Beatles Blog

Paul McCartney Seeks to Register Name as Trademark

2006-10-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

Former Beatle Paul McCartney sought on Friday to cash in on his name by registering it as a trademark for use on everything from waistcoats to vegetarian food.

In addition to vegetarian items, he is also seeking permission for the name on meat, fish, poultry and game.

The application has been made by McCartney's company, MPL Communications Ltd, and if successful will give it the exclusive right to use of the name McCartney on clothing, footwear, headgear and a variety of other goods.

The full application specifies such disparate items as articles of fancy dress, overalls, waistcoats, hosiery, dressing-gowns, bath robes, sports clothing and swimwear.

MPL Communications was set up by McCartney to handle his recordings after the break-up of the Beatles.

Anyone who objects now has three months to lodge objections with the Trademarks Registry. Then a trademark judge will decide whether the marks meet the legal criteria to be registered.

Companies and individuals apply to register names and logos as trademarks in order to identify the commercial source or origin of goods and services and set their business and its products or services apart from those of others.

Once a trademark has been granted, its owners can take action to prevent others using identical, or even similar, names and logos.

http://today.reuters.com/news
/articlenews.aspx
?type=peopleNews&storyID=2006-10-13T153
620Z_01_L13240875_RTRI
DST_0_PEOPLE-MCCARTNEY
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Beatle-Inspired Chess Set On Show

2006-10-13T02:17:00.000-05:00

The piece, commissioned by fellow band member George Harrison in 1973, was displayed at Takashimaya to mark the opening of a new Asprey store.

The London jeweller is selling replica sets for £15,000 each.

Starr apparently learned to play chess during the making of the Sergeant Pepper album, released in 1967.

The "hands", designed by Robin Crookshank, are set in a certain gestures to represent each chess figure, and include the rings worn by the star.

The Takashimaya department store, established in the 1930s in Kyoto as a kimono shop, is now an eight-storey shopping and dining emporium.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/
hi/asia-pacific/6039806.stm

Paul McCartney Victim of Trespassers

2006-10-13T02:05:00.000-05:00

The tourists took a stroll around McCartney's grounds, videotaping McCartney's home and cars after entering the property from a public foot trail nearby, the Daily Mirror reported.

The trespassers then went on to post the footage on Youtube.com.

McCartney was reportedly very upset that the tourists gained access to his estate so easily, giving his staff a full dressing down and ordering them to tighten his security, the Daily Mirror said.

In the video posted on the Internet, the camera controllers can be heard laughing as McCartney's house comes into view.

A woman's voice says: "This is it. This is his house. It's a beautiful house. It's beautiful. Oh God, we are going to be in so much trouble."

The 64-year-old singer has already complained about the public trail running too close to his home, the newspaper said.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view
.php?StoryID=20061009-015540-9129r

John Lennon's killer denied parole

2006-10-13T02:02:00.000-05:00

Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon, was denied parole on Tuesday (October 10th), for the fourth time. Chapman, who is now 51, is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence in New York's Attica Correctional Facility, for killing Lennon outside the musician's New York City apartment on December 8th, 1980.

The Associated Press reported that the Division of Parole's three-member panel met with Chapman for a total of 16 minutes. A one-page decision was later issued saying, "The panel remains concerned about the bizarre nature of this premeditated and violent crime. While the panel notes your satisfactory institutional adjustment, due to the extremely violent nature of the offense, your release would not be in the best interest of the community." Chapman is eligible for parole again in October 2008.

Chapman, who was living in Hawaii at the time of the murder, stalked Lennon for days, and even briefly met Lennon's then-5-year-old son Sean outside the apartment building the day he gunned Lennon down.

A movie based on the days leading up to Chapman's murder of Lennon, titled Chapter 27, will be released next year, starring Jared Leto as Chapman and Lindsay Lohan as a fan who befriended Chapman.

The film gets its name from the "missing" chapter from J.D. Salinger's novel A Catcher In The Rye, which Chapman was obsessed with in the months before the murder. In an early '90s jailhouse interview, Chapman reportedly admitted to fantasizing about writing the missing chapter in Lennon's blood.

http://www.therockradio.com/
2006/10/john-lennons-killer
-denied-parole.html

Sir Paul McCartney to buy back Beatles rights

2006-10-07T00:21:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney is to get his hands back on the rights to The Beatles' back catalogue of songs - which he lost 21 years ago.

The musician lost the rights to the majority of the Fab Four's hits to then close friend Michael Jackson in a bidding war in 1985.

Jackson paid nearly £40 million for the collection leaving McCartney, who dueted with Jackson on worldwide hit 'The Girl Is Mine' in 1982, fuming.

Now the former Beatle has learned the rights to many of the songs, which include 'Come Together' and 'Getting Better', are set to return to him automatically.

He revealed to Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "In about 10 years a lot of the back catalogue returns to me, just legally. Some of the important rights are about to return which I didn't realise."

McCartney, 64, has previously admitted he hates the fact he has to pay Jackson money every time he plays one of his own songs on tour.

He recently said: "You know what doesn't feel very good is going on tour and paying to sing all my songs. Every time I sing 'Hey Jude' I've got to pay someone."

http://music.monstersandcritics.com/
news/article_1207329.php/Sir
_Paul_McCartney_to_buy_
back_Beatles_rights

Stella McCartney Dedicates Fashion Show To Parents

2006-10-07T00:15:00.000-05:00

Everybody needs a little love sometimes. Despite Paul McCartney's ongoing divorce battle with Heather Mills, his daughter Stella lifted the music icon's spirits on Thursday with a reassuring hug at one of her fashion shows.

The former Beatle attended his daughter's debut at Paris Fashion Week and Stella returned the show of support by rushing to her father and throwing her arms around him when the pair met afterwards.

Paul has been through a harrowing time since his breakup from estranged wife Heather Mills in May and the strain of heading to the divorce courts has been "devastating."

Stella, 35, dedicated the show to her "mum (sic) and dad" - her mother was Paul's first wife, Linda, who died in 1998 after a lengthy battle with breast cancer.

In a handwritten note, Stella wrote, "This show is dedicated to my husband and son. It is also for my mum (sic) and dad."

Heavily-pregnant Stella, who has an 18-month-old son Miller with husband Alasdhair Wills, was thrilled to see her proud father filming the standing ovation at the end of her ready-to-wear collection showcase.

Sitting in the front-row, Paul insisted, "It was the best show. Not that I'm biased!"

The 64-year-old musician, who has a two-year-old daughter, Beatrice, with Heather, confessed he was struggling to cope with his marriage break-up.

He said, "It's been the most terrible time for me and my family. Coming to terms with this is horrible."

Meanwhile, Heather looked gloomy as she flew to the U.S. on Thursday. The 38-year-old former model refused to comment when quizzed about her alleged demands for $254 million divorce settlement.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/
articles/7005092232

Rare John Lennon Green Card footage discovered by filmmakers at the last minute

2006-10-07T00:10:00.000-05:00

The directors of the new documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon found a key piece of archival footage only weeks before the film was scheduled to wrap production. The film, which was released last month, chronicles Lennon's four-year fight to legally remain in the U.S. For years, the footage of Lenon and wife Yoko Ono appearing on July 27th, 1976 at the Department of Neutralization and Immigration in New York City was thought to have been lost forever.

David Leaf, who co-directed the film which documents Lennon's harassment by the Nixon administration, told us that the footage was discovered during the production's eleventh hour: "You know, we had interviewed people who were there and they had told us what John said outside the building, but to find John saying that, it's so impactful. You know, he thanks his fans, he makes the classic comment, 'Time wounds all heels.' We found that three weeks before we finished the movie. It was in a mismarked reel."

The footage of Lennon was shot for WABC-TV in New York.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which was produced with the cooperation and participation of Yoko Ono, is in theatres now.

http://www.therockradio.com/
2006/10/rare-john-lennon-
green-card-footage.html

Beatles Unleashing Love

2006-10-07T00:06:00.000-05:00

A "new" album of Beatles music mixed by their legendary producer George Martin and described as a new "way of reliving the whole Beatles musical lifespan", will be released in November.

EMI Music and Apple Corps Ltd said on Tuesday that Martin and his son Giles began work on the album, called Love, after getting permission from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yok Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison representing John Lennon and George Harrison.

The music has already been used as the soundtrack to the theatrical Cirque du Soleil show called Love.

"This music was designed for the Love show in Las Vegas but in doing so we've created a new Beatles album," George Martin said.

"The Beatles always looked for other ways of expressing themselves and this is another step forward for them.

"What people will be hearing on the album is a new experience, a way of re-living the whole Beatles musical lifespan in a very condensed period."

The Martins worked from the original master tapes from the Abbey Road studios to produce a medley of Beatles music by remixing favourite songs, such as Harrison's Within You Without You being played to the drum-track of Tomorrow Never Knows.

http://www.news24.com/
News24/Entertainment/Abroad/
0,,2-1225-1243_2007722,00.html

Fashion queen tells of her designs on young Lennon

2006-10-06T23:57:00.000-05:00

The fashion designer Jenny Kee has disclosed that she slept with John Lennon when she was 17 after the singer declared that he had never been with an Asian girl.
Kee, 59, famous for her use of iconic Australian imagery on creations that range from jumpers to bedspreads, writes of the encounter in her memoir, A Big Life, which goes on sale on Monday.

She says she also slept with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Roger Daltry but denies she was “a hardened groupie”.

The designer, whose creations were worn by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, said that she slept with Lennon in Sydney during The Beatles’ first visit to Australia in June 1964. Lennon was still married to Cynthia, his first wife. He began the affair with Yoko Ono, the Japanese musician and artist, in 1968.

Asked by Australia’s Who magazine how she ended up in Lennon’s bed, Kee replied: “You’ve got to have a strategy. There was wall-to-wall security, but we pressed all the buttons in the lift until it jammed, and that’s how we got on to the stairwell and met them.

“There was no holding back. I was tunnel visioned. But in the end he [Lennon] chose me. He said: ‘I’ve never been with an Asian girl before.’ Sleeping with John Lennon was a fantastic thing.”

The magazine asked: “So you paved the way for Yoko Ono?” Kee said: “Well, he’d never been with an Asian girl before, so what can I say? I wasn’t a hardened groupie — I was very naïve. I’d only had two boyfriends before that. We got it on and magic happened.”

Most of Kee’s encounters with rock stars occurred in London after she moved there in the late 1960s and worked at the Chelsea Antiques Market, where she claims to have frequently dressed, and, it appears undressed, well known musicians.

Kee said that Jimi Hendrix came to her market stall and spoke to her on the day that he died. She told the magazine: “He was quite vacant, he was lost. You could see that fame and everything had just got to him. I feel privileged that I’ve touched these great icons . . . John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Princess Diana.”

Kee went on to design for Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel. In her later life, back in Australia, she lived with Danton Hughes, son of the Australian writer and art critic, Robert Hughes.

Danton Hughes, who was 20 years her junior, committed suicide in the Sydney home he shared with Kee in 2002.

He was convinced, Kee says, that his father, Robert Hughes, loathed the sight of him. Robert Hughes did, allegedly, disapprove of his son’s relationship with Kee. In his own memoir, Things I Didn’t Know, which is also about to released in Australia, he refers to Kee as his son’s “far older” lover.

In turn Kee, in her book, remembers Hughes Sr, whom she knew well in London in the 1960s, as an “arrogant, pompous, generous — and upwardly mobile hippy”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
article/0,,3-2392300,00.html

'Dad's albums inspire me'

2006-10-01T04:46:00.000-05:00

Let’s get one thing straight. Sean Lennon has absolutely no problem with who he is.

As he relaunches his music career with the bold musical brushstrokes of new album Friendly Fire, he says: “The f***ing reason I’m playing music is because of The Beatles and my dad.”

One is immediately struck by Sean’s voice. It bears a strong American accent but is shot through with the familiar, distinct nasal lilt of John Lennon.

“I can honestly say that I have a really profound relationship with every period of his work,” he says. “Every single Beatles record, every single solo album — they’re all a big part of my dad.”

He feels the records give him a relationship with his father that otherwise wouldn’t be there because, of course, “he’s not around”.

It’s touching to remember that when John sang to his “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy”, the world shared his joy.

His simple heartfelt ode from besotted dad to “darling Sean” appeared on Double Fantasy, the album he made with partner Yoko Ono in the summer of 1980.

Sean, I discovered, has a particular place in his heart for Double Fantasy. “I mean I was there when they were making it. I actually remember it.”

He grew up in John’s adopted home city of New York with mum Yoko and these days is part of its glamourous social whirl. While sharing his parents’ love for music, the million-dollar question has been whether he would plunge into the business big time.

Happily, I can report that if his debut album, 1998’s Into The Sun, represents a flirtation, Friendly Fire feels like a full-on commitment.

So why did he leave such a gap? “The album just happened organically,” he says. “It’s not that I was avoiding. I was doing other things. The thing is, I’m not always sure I want a pop music career. A lot of the last few years I didn’t feel I wanted one.”

Now, however, he’s even approached and subsequently joined The Beatles’ first label (Capitol in The States and Parlophone here).

“It’s a big step. I’m older and I think I’ve gotten better at music. This record is also technically better and has a much richer sound. Capitol/Parlophone seemed a more appropriate label for the kind of work I’m doing now.

I’m not a kid any more so I’m not trying to say, ‘Look how weird I am’. I’m trying to make beautiful art. It’s going to be a different career for me.

“I intentionally made my first record obscure. I mean, there’s a seven-minute instrumental jazz song in the middle of it. I wasn’t necessarily trying to make it easy for people. I’m trying to make it a bit easier this time.”

That initial reticence, you sense, might have been caused by the pressure of being John’s son but Sean says: “I have never felt the pressure.”

Yet he did give this insight: “I remember playing a show in Rhode Island as a kid and there were three fat pigs in the front row with Beatles T-shirts on and one shouted ‘Play Yesterday!’ He said it in the middle of me singing and I thought, ‘This is what everyone’s talking about’.

“But my relationship to art is not defined by some sense of foreboding about who I am. It’s like. ‘Wow, this is Dad and this is what he did.’ A lot of how I learned to play music was from listening to that stuff, and it inspires me.”

Friendly Fire is a special album. The ten songs are personal, revealing and grand in scope. Rather like many of his dad’s solo efforts, there’s a dreamlike, often childlike quality.

A key song is the title track, on which he lays bare his feelings about his split from singer-actress Bijou Phillips. Did it bother him to share his innermost feelings with the listening public?

“I have to say that I never have issues with putting out songs that are personal. I have this innate thing that I don’t care.

“What bothers me is when people don’t know how I feel but are looking at me anyway. That’s what makes me uncomfortable, being in the public eye. People are projecting this idea on to me, like, ‘I hate that Lennon kid. He should be like his dad’”.

Another great thing about the album is that ever-visual Sean has shot an accompanying film featuring all the tracks, to be released on the CD/DVD edition. When you “see” the songs, everything clicks into place.

“When I was mixing the record, I started thinking about making videos. It felt like I hadn’t finished the album until I’d finished the movie of the album. It felt like this work was supposed to continue into filming. The music is pretty cinematic sounding.”

Each song gets a different, slightly surreal setting, though perhaps not as surreal as mum Yoko would have liked. Sean says: “She was a producer and gave me advice. For a while she thought I was being too commercial but I think she loves it now.

“Her sense of film is to, say, take an avocado, film it for six days and have, like, mosquitoes buzzing around in the background. I don’t want to undermine her because I think she is probably my greatest influence, my favourite artist. But I think in her mind for a while she thought, ‘Why are you trying to do this mainstream thing?’ In the end she realised I was using that medium, the mainstream, to take people on a dreamlike journey.”

The film for opening song Dead Meat sees Sean cheat at cards and get involved in a duel. The message is that you get what you deserve in life.

He says: “When I wrote Dead Meat, I knew I had a record. It represents how my life felt at the time.

“Also, I didn’t want to do the film in a half-hearted way. The guy who’s actually fighting me taught me how to fence. I had to take about ten classes. It was a lot of work — but ultimately a lot of fun.”

A dazzling fairground ride, a rollerskating venue, a dishevelled apartment, an underwater scene and a freak show circus all feature in the album film.

“It was a roller coaster,” says Sean. “It was difficult because we only had 12 days to shoot the whole thing. We were on a shoestring budget.

“We’d do a piece one day, have three hours’ sleep and come back the next morning to a different set and have a completely new set of characters.

“The crew were p****d off but now they feel very satisfied about what we did because it was a bit over the top. People said we were crazy for trying. I didn’t even have any trailers for the crew. We were sleeping on the floor.”

The sense of sonic and visual adventure pervades all on Friendly Fire, none more so than on the film for Headlights, which has a similar feel to Ken Russell’s portrayal of The Who’s Tommy.

Sean reveals: “It was one of the easiest ones. We just had to rent this fairground ride called a Gravitron. It spins round and you stick to the wall.

“I don’t know what it’s like in England but no one here wants Gravitrons any more. The guy who rented it out wanted to give it to us. ‘Please take it,’ he said. It was just sitting in the junkyard and we turned it on and it was literally like, brrrrrrr, and these lights came on. I thought, God, this is going to be good because it’s an amazing thing.”

I ask Sean if we’ll see him in Britain, touring his new songs with a band. “Yes,” he replies, “though I don’t have a permanent staff or anything, waiting for a call. Everything depends on the tour.”

Finally, we return to a subject so close to Sean’s heart — John Lennon and The Beatles. Is he bothered what the people who have a close relationship with their incredible music think of him?

“I understand that because they’re so attached to that great music that they don’t want me to f*** with their relationship with it or mess with their idea of this perfect thing.

“But I’m not really doing it for them and I’m not trying to please them anyway. I’m doing my own thing and they can take it or leave it.”

When Sean’s album goes on sale next week, my advice is: Take it, don’t leave it.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/
article/0,,2006140003
-2006450280,00.html

The ballad of Sean and Bijou

2006-10-01T04:38:00.000-05:00

It takes exactly 20 seconds of Sean Lennon’s new album to reveal his biggest problem in pursuing a pop career — he sings exactly like his father. The reedy, nasal vocal is pure John. The gentle rasp when he extends his range is pure John. Even the pronunciation — “loovin’ you” — suggests a Scouse upbringing. Which is weird, because Lennon was born and raised in New York City, was five when his father died, and went to boarding school in Switzerland, which is generally a Scouse-free zone.

Sitting in a room at the Beatles’ old label, Parlophone, just down the corridor from where his dad beams out from a Let It Be poster, Lennon also looks like his father. And his mother. He’s a 50-50 fusion of John and Yoko. Until he opens his mouth, when he speaks slowly and quietly in an all- American accent, choosing his words with great deliberation. His clothes seem to have been picked with a similar attention to detail. He’s wearing a pinstriped trousers and waistcoat ensemble with a smart shirt and tie, and big dark glasses. He has tousled jet-black hair that hairdressers might call “unmanageable”, and a few days’ growth of beard.

It’s been eight years since Lennon released his debut album, Into the Sun, which fused his paternally inherited pop sensibility with a maternal experimental influence, incorporating elements of hip-hop and jazz. It failed to make a lasting impact on the public, other than some headline-making comments from its author about his father having been assassinated by the American government, and having been a bit of an “asshole” and “macho pig” in his private life. Does he regret that now? “I’m sure I will regret having said most of the things you’re going to bring up,” he sighs. “I think when you’re young, you want to be provocative.”

Today, at the age of 30, he’s made a new album that is certainly provocative, though in a very different way. Friendly Fire is a collection of songs about the end of his four-year relationship with the actress and musician Bijou Phillips, after she slept with his best friend, Max LeRoy. Lennon, heartbroken at being betrayed, poured his anger into a bitter song called Dead Meat, now the opener on his album. “Dead meat,” he croons over a disarmingly sweet music-box melody. “You’re nothing but dead meat... You’re gonna get what you deserve.”

The tragic punch line to this romantic soap opera is that LeRoy is now dead. “He passed away in a motorcycle crash last November,” explains Lennon sadly. The pair had been friends since childhood, living across the hall from each other, and had often shared a room as boys. “We were like twins,” he adds. After LeRoy died, Lennon “flipped out” and threw himself into making Friendly Fire — the oxymoronic title an allusion to the truism that you always end up hurting the ones you love. “I thought I had learnt to let go of things after my dad passed away,” he says. “But this definitely tested that. I knew my friend for 30 years, as opposed to five.”

Lennon and LeRoy never made up, something that still haunts the singer: “I think the thing I regret most is that Max isn’t around for me to reconcile with him. That’s probably one of the greatest tragedies that has ever befallen me.” He is adamant that the album, which chronicles his feelings in song — anger turning to sadness, leaving the clear impression that he is still in love with Phillips — is not meant to be taken too literally. “It’s art, not life, you know. I’m mythologising my life, but ‘myth’ is the key word. It’s not a documentation of the way things actually happened.”

The album comes with a 50-minute DVD illustrating each song in vignettes. It’s not just any old home movie, either: being John Lennon’s son brings plenty of perks in Hollywood, and he called on several of his showbiz pals to take part. Thus we have a cast that includes Lindsay Lohan, Asia Argento, Carrie Fisher, Jordana Brewster — and Phillips herself. When Lennon and Phillips re-enact a scene in which her lover comes to the door of their shared home, it’s plain weird. Was it hard to get her to agree to the role? “No. She wanted to do it.” And was it hard for him to relive their separation? “Of course I’m trying to articulate the anger that one might feel in a lot of the songs, but I have a lot of love for Bijou, too. She’s an artist, and I think she understands it’s art and she wanted to be a part of it. It’s an interesting part of the emotional recovery process, to express ourselves in that way.”

There’s a bit of an am-dram feel to the film, despite its star cast, lending it something of the air of a school play. Lennon and his famous friends lark about in extravagant costumes (including a Sgt Pepper-style military tunic for Lennon), acting out capers in different styles and periods. Meanwhile, the music and lyrics, while conjuring up ghosts of his father, might unkindly be described by critics as Imagine lite. It is impossible to listen to it without making comparisons to Lennon Sr. Which is odd because, after his debut album in 1998, Lennon Jr castigated himself for making it “way too Beatles for the world” (even though it wasn’t) and vowing that his next would “make the point that I’m not trying to copy my parents”. In fact, the new album is far more Beatlesy than its predecessor and lacks his earlier experimental edge.

Lennon says that making the record didn’t bring him “closure” in terms of Phillips, but confesses: “It was definitely cathartic. It was a necessary means of surviving that period of my life because I was so... I feel I’m really... upset.” He looks unbearably melancholic. “I’m really sad about losing my best friend, and I think I’m just one of those people who need to process their emotional lives through art. I definitely didn’t solve anything. But I think if I hadn’t had that outlet, I might have gone insane or killed myself, or something crazy.”

Aware of the interest such remarks might attract, he corrects himself immediately. “I don’t want to be overly dramatic, so maybe I shouldn’t say that. But it was a really sad thing, one of the saddest things that ever happened to me. The record is just about love, and how complicated it is between friends and lovers. It’s not like I invented that topic. I’m interested in the idea of the love song, and I think to write a good one, you have to have some pain and suffering in there to make it real.”

Lennon, of course, has experienced more than his fair share of that. “Haven’t we all?” he shrugs. “From a pessimistic standpoint, from Schopenhauer’s perspective, life is suffering — and from a Buddhist perspective. But I think it’s what we make of it that matters. Right?” Right. But one cannot help feeling Lennon might have prospered more freely had he chosen a career that bore no comparison to that of his parents. “You’re right,” he agrees. “But Nabokov’s son [Dmitri] became an opera singer, and I think he still had a hard time.” He insists that he is no longer concerned about comparisons to his father or his music. “I’ve never tried to avoid the Beatles. I can’t. It’s me. It would be like trying to avoid my left foot.”

He no longer regards his father’s legacy as a millstone around his neck. “I don’t know if I ever really felt that way,” he says. “And if I did, I was wrong. It’s not my dad’s legacy that’s a millstone — it’s the disparity between who people think I am and who I really am. It’s an honour and a privilege to be part of his legacy. ”

Lennon, who dated Lizzy Jagger after the split, won’t be drawn on whether a reunion with Phillips is on the cards, saying only that they are “friends”. He doesn’t have a girlfriend at the moment, and confesses: “I’m not capable of having a relationship right now.” Because he is still wounded from that one? “Maybe. And also because I’m so busy with work. Relationships are distracting. I’m very productive when I’m on my own.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
article/0,,2101-2376976,00.html

Secret Michael and McCartney Record Discovered

2006-09-30T02:05:00.000-05:00

A previously unreleased duet between George Michael and Sir Paul McCartney will finally see the light of the day on a forthcoming greatest hits album. Michael's Twenty Five collection is scheduled for release in November (06) and will feature the McCartney track Hear The Pain. The Careless Whisper singer's greatest hits collection, which comprises hits from his Wham! and solo career, will also feature a song recorded exclusively for the album called Understand. George Michael began his full European tour in Barcelona last Saturday (23SEP06) - his first series of live shows in 15 years.

http://www.contactmusic.com/
news.nsf/article/secret%20michael
%20and%20mccartney%20record
%20discovered_1009625

Lennon: 'I'm Not My Dad'

2006-09-30T01:54:00.000-05:00

Sean Lennon has hit out at critics who expect him to be exactly like his dad, the late Beatle John Lennon.The young musician, who is preparing to release his new album Friendly Fire, resents expectations that he should make the same music as his late father.He says, "What bothers me is when people don't know how I feel, but are looking at me anyway. That's what makes me uncomfortable, being in the public eye. People are projecting this idea on to me, like, 'I hate that Lennon kid.
He should be like his dad.'" Songs on Sean's new album was inspired by his break-up with singer/actress Bijou Phillips. He tells, "I have to say that I never have issues with putting out songs that are personal. I have this innate thing that I don't care."

http://www.pr-inside.com/
lennon-im-not-my-dad-r20574.htm

Brian Wilson credits the Beatles' inspiration for "Pet Sounds"

2006-09-30T01:51:00.000-05:00

Brian Wilson says that like most of the songwriters and producers of the '60s the Beatles pushed him to do his best work. Wilson told the avclub.com that his inspiration to create the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was due to feeling direct competition with the "Fab Four," recalling that, "I heard Rubber Soul one night in my house here in L.A., and I was so blown out that I said, 'I have to record an album as good or better than Rubber Soul. If I ever do anything in my life, I'm going to make that good an album.' And so we did."

Wilson said that he knew while recording Pet Sounds that he was creating a rock and roll masterpiece: "I knew when we were recording it. I knew it was going to be a milestone in musical history. And I knew we were on to something very, very good. The love vibes in Pet Sounds were very good."

Brian Wilson told us that he included the band's then-current single "Sloop John B." on Pet Sounds at the Beach Boys' record company's request: "No, I wanted it to be a single but when they said 'album,' I said 'fine,' that was okay with me. I said it would help the album. Y'know, it would help it sell and it would fit perfectly."

Pet Sounds was released on May 16th, 1966, and featured such Beach Boys classics as "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows" "Caroline No," "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," and "Sloop John B."

The Beach Boys have just released a deluxe double disc version of the Pet Sounds album. The set includes newly remastered mono and stereo mixes of the album, as well as a DVD featuring a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround sound mix and several featurettes, including an extended cut of the 1997 promotional film The Making Of Pet Sounds.

Brian Wilson will be performing a series of Pet Sounds 40th anniversary shows with Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine as his special guest. The mini-tour kicks off on November 1st in Los Angeles at Royce Hall at UCLA.

In addition to the L.A. date, Wilson and Jardine have shows scheduled in Boston, Washington D.C., Glenside, Pennsylvania, and New York City.

http://www.therockradio.com/
2006/09/brian-wilson-
credits-beatles.html

Paul McCartney Says He's 'Doing Fine'

2006-09-29T00:28:00.000-05:00

Paul McCartney says he's "doing fine," despite the turmoil surrounding the breakup of his marriage. McCartney, who appeared Monday at a news conference to launch his new classical album, "Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart)," did not comment directly on his split from his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney.

Asked how he had been coping in recent months, McCartney said: "I'm doing fine thank you. It's OK.

"I'm enjoying music. It's something I love to do. It's something that sustains me. So I'm enjoying it, finishing this project off and also the next one."

McCartney said he started "Ecce Cor Meum" when his first wife, Linda, was still alive. After she died of breast cancer in 1998, "it stalled me," the 64-year-old former Beatle said.

"I took a year or so before I could get back into it. The interlude in the middle is a particularly sad melody and is what got me going again," he said. "Her spirit is very much in this. It would have been her birthday yesterday so it's very appropriate."

McCartney said the lyrics of "Ecce Cor Meum" were inspired by what he believes is important in life.

"When I came around to thinking, `what do I want the words to say?' I just wrote down a whole load of things that interest me about truth, about love, about honesty and about kindness. Stuff that I thought was important in life."

Paul and Heather Mills McCartney announced their separation in May after four years of marriage. They have begun divorce proceedings in an increasingly acrimonious split. The couple have a 2-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

"Ecce Cor Meum," which is being released by EMI Classics, is the pop star's fourth classical album. His first, "The Liverpool Oratorio," was released in 1991.

Britain's Magdalen College Oxford commissioned McCartney to create the music more than eight years ago in celebration of a new concert hall.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/
entertainment/sns-ap-people-
paul-mccartney,1,6260901.story?
coll=chi-entertainmentfront-hed

McCartney adds voice to hospital campaign

2006-09-27T23:32:00.000-05:00

The 64-year-old former Beatle sent a message of support, saying it would be a "real shame" if vital services were cut back at the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards, East Sussex.

Sir Paul, who has a country estate in nearby Peasmarsh, near Rye, said: "Any cutback in medical services for this and any other region is a real shame."These are services for the people of the area and I for one support the efforts of the people who are trying to make sure that these closures don't happen." Last week,
more than 7,000 people marched along Hastings seafront in support of maintaining services such as Accident and Emergency and maternity at the hospital.

The rally was held as it emerged that more than 37,000 people have signed petitions backing the Hands Off The Conquest campaign.Friends of the Conquest Hospital secretary Margaret Williams said Sir Paul's endorsement of their efforts has lifted spirits.She said: "Having an endorsement from someone like Sir Paul really lifts the profile of the campaign."

http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/
ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=
55&ArticleID=1789457

Heather Mills threatens to drop “bombshell” on Paul McCartney

2006-09-27T23:27:00.000-05:00

Heather Mills is not the only one whose reputation has taken a beating in her bitter divorce battle from estranged hubby Sir Paul McCartney, for she’s now threatening to do the same for him with some “bombshell” revelations.

According to reports, Mills' divorce lawyer Antony Julius, has already compiled a file of serious claims that the former model has made against Macca, and will be made public around the time of the divorce settlement.

A pal of Mills’ rubbished reports that the couple had found a way for an amicable arrangement, and that the model was now preparing to settle score for stories about her past that she believes have been leaked by Macca’s camp.

"Heather has made a number of very serious allegations against Paul which are set to come out in court. However, quite apart from that she feels that her character has been irrevocably damaged by a rash of stories which she is sure have been leaked out by Paul's side," the Daily Mail quoted the pal, as saying.

The friend insisted that as the divorce settlement draws closer, Mills will be going public with the claims, which are said to be “pretty serious”.

"As the divorce settlement gets closer, she is fully planning to go public with some pretty serious claims about how Paul treated her during the marriage. There is some serious weight behind all of these allegations" the friend added.

"Heather has made records of a catalogue of incidents which have happened during the marriage. There's a lot to say on Heather's part but she is not prepared to go public with it at this stage. She has been told by Antony Julius to keep her head down and let things take their legal course," the pal revealed.

And the friend also said that Mills’ revelations will be like a “bombshell” for McCartney.

"It's bombshell stuff - every one of these allegations would be front page news. Rest assured, if all goes to plan, what has happened in this marriage will not remain secret. The allegations will see the light of day. Heather will not want to go down in history as Evil Heather - the bad guy in this marriage," the pal insisted.

The source continued there had been a lot of innuendo from Macca’s camp to make Mills look ‘bad’ in the public’s eye. However, the animal rights activist was not prepared to take the accusations lying down, and is planning to give tit for tat.

"There has been a lot of innuendo to make her look very bad. For that reason, Heather is not going to be happy to go down in history without letting this all out"

"However until now - on the advice of her lawyers - she has been very careful to tell no one about these details," the source revealed.

Mills McCartney's Dad Slams 'Greedy' Daughter

2006-09-27T23:24:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney's estranged wife Heather Mills McCartney has been branded "greedy" and "nasty" by her own father over reports she's set to win millions from the former Beatle in their divorce settlement.

Mark Mills, who has been estranged from his daughter for years after she accused him of abusing her as a child, insists the former model should know her limits.

He says, "I've read he's offered her 25 million or so -- she should take that and stop what she's doing. It's plenty.

"She's just being greedy. Just how much does she need?"

McCartney and Mills announced their split in May. They have a 2-year-old daughter, Beatrice, together.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&
entry_id=9279

Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre Update John Lennon’s Imagine

2006-09-27T23:04:00.000-05:00

‘Imagine Russell still struggling/No Def Jam’ raps Snoop Dogg on his forthcoming album in a rather bizarre update of John Lennon’s classic ‘Imagine’.

Snoop and Dr Dre have collaborated on ‘The Blue Carpet Treatment’, Snoop’s new record. ‘Imagine’ will be their first thing together in 5 years.

According to Billboard, the album will feature special guests Stevie Wonder, The Game, Ice Cube and R. Kelly.

As well as Dre, The Neptunes, Timbaland and Rick Rock handle production duties.

‘The Blue Carpet Treatment’ will be released on November 21st.

http://www.undercover.com.au/
news/2006/sep06/20060926_
snoopdogg.html

New Book showcases the Beatles as artists see them

2006-09-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

The music of the Beatles helped define the 1960's, and inspired not only musicians, but artists of the day who captured the spirit of John, Paul, George, and Ringo in their artwork. The Beatles continue to inspire artists, and some of the best examples of these images have been compiled by Boxigami Books into a new book called Beatles Art.

Beatles Art is a compilation of art from professional artists from all over the world, offering their own unique interpretations of The Beatles and their music. The artwork pictured ranges from traditional paintings to digital creations. In addition, the artists share how The Beatles impacted their art, their lives and the world.

From doodles to oil paintings, from collages to sculptures, Beatles Art captures the Beatles as they were in performance, on TV, in the media and as we remember them, from all the years the Beatles were together.

The foreword for Beatles Art was written by Jock Bartley from the US band Firefall, who shares his own thoughts on the Beatles in an open and honest way that genuinely sets the tone for the great art contained in the book. Jock is an artist, musician, and a Beatle fan, and so he brings his own unique perspective to the topic. In his foreword, Jock says:

"It's no secret. The Beatles are the best Rock and Roll band ever. They were back then, they are today and will always be. Paul, John, George and Ringo changed the entire world and human experience like no other group could ever hope to."

More than a pretty coffee table book, as you thumb through this book, you, your family and friends will find vivid images which spark your own memories of the times and events. It's a book that takes you away and you can easily get lost in its pages.

Beatles Art is a beautiful 10 1/2 x 12 soft cover book, 212 pages, including 150 full color images. For each book sold, Boxigami Books will donate $1 US to Adopt-A-Minefield.

http://www.whatgoeson.com/
gallery.bart-cover.html

McCartney mystified by the magic of ‘The Beatles’

2006-09-27T22:45:00.000-05:00

It was only after Sir Paul McCartney saw ‘Love’ - a show inspired by his former band ‘The Beatles’, that he realized the true impact of their music.

Former Beatles MCCartney and Ringo Starr were among the first to see it, and Macca confessed that he'd never appreciated his musical success until that point.

"It was emotional because it's my mates, and because of the fact that it's no more, except on record - physically no more,” Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

"In the middle of the show, I was sitting next to Ringo, I was welling up, and I just turned to him and said, 'F**king great band. Listen to these noises. How did we do that?'" he added.

Meanwhile, Sir Paul McCartney who has been going through a bitter divorce battle since past few months, has vowed to “start living again" after his split from wife Heather Mills.

http://news.sawf.org/
Entertainment/22073.aspx

John Lennon, Still a Security Threat

2006-09-24T00:18:00.000-05:00

We all know that a key to preventing future terrorist attacks is sharing intelligence with foreign governments. When Justice Department attorneys urge courts not to release national security information provided by a foreign government under a Freedom of Information Act suit, they argue that the courts should defer to the experts in the Department of Homeland Security and the White House.

But what if such intelligence isn't about today's terrorist threats? What if it's about the antiwar activities of a British rock star during the Vietnam War?

That's precisely what's at issue in a Freedom of Information Act suit pending before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case of John Lennon's FBI files illustrates the federal government's obsession with secrecy, which it justifies with appeals to national security.

Lennon's story, told in the documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," opening this week in Los Angeles, revolves around his plans to help register young people to vote in the 1972 presidential election, when President Nixon was running for reelection and the war in Vietnam was the issue of the day. Lennon wanted to organize a national concert tour that would combine rock music with antiwar protests and voter registration. Nixon found out about the plan, and the White House began deportation proceedings against Lennon.

It worked: Lennon never did the tour, and Nixon was reelected.

Along the way, the FBI spied on and harassed Lennon — and kept detailed files of its work. The bulk of them were released in 1997 under the Freedom of Information Act after 15 years of litigation. I was the plaintiff.

But the agency continues to withhold 10 documents in Lennon's FBI file on grounds that they contain "national security information provided by a foreign government." The name of the foreign government remains classified, though it's probably not Afghanistan. The FBI has argued that "disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the national security, as it would reveal a foreign government and information provided in confidence by that government."

U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi rejected this argument in 2004 and ordered the documents released. The FBI is appealing that decision.

The Lennon FBI files vividly illustrate the administration's problem. "Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of their government" — those are the words of President Bush in his 2003 executive order on classified information. And he is right.

The Freedom of Information Act is necessary because Democrats and Republicans alike have secrets they want to keep — secrets about corruption and the abuse of power. But now the White House wants to shield information from with a new rationale for secrecy — protecting the homeland from terrorists.

The administration acknowledges that it has dramatically increased the number of documents classified "confidential," "secret" or "top secret." Between the time Bush took office in 2001 and 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, that number has nearly doubled. In 2004 alone, 80 federal agencies deemed 15.6 million documents off-limits. And that figure doesn't include documents withheld by Vice President Dick Cheney, who refuses to report to the National Archives the number of documents his office classifies even though Bush's executive order requires him to do so. Cheney claims his office is exempt.

The administration's frenzy on secrets has led to documents being reclassified after having been in the public domain for decades — for example, the number of bombers and missiles the U.S. had in 1971. The same year that the FBI began its surveillance of Lennon, Nixon's secretary of Defense testified before Congress and displayed a chart showing the U.S. had 30 strategic bomber squadrons and 54 Titan and 1,000 Minuteman nuclear missiles.

Thirty-five years later, Bush officials blacked out that information in the public version of the secretary of Defense's 1971 report, claiming it is now a national security secret. About 55,000 pages of previously declassified material in the National Archives were edited this way, mostly by the Air Force and CIA. (In response, the U.S. archivist announced last week that a declassification initiative would eventually return 85% of the withdrawn CIA materials to the shelves.)

The justifications for such decisions are often ridiculous. In the Lennon FBI files litigation, the government claims that our national security would be damaged if it discloses the sharing of intelligence between the U.S. and the unnamed foreign government. But Bush himself declared in a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair that "relations and cooperation between our intelligence services are essential to secure the people of our respective countries."

That makes me wonder: Could it be that the same British intelligence service provided Nixon with information about Lennon in 1972? All this suggests that the time has come to end what Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, calls "silly secrecy."

http://www.latimes.com/news/
opinion/commentary/la-op-
weiner10sep10,0,7745137.
story?coll=la-news-comm
ent-opinions

A Note From Me: Sorry about the past couple days with the lack of updates. I have been very busy studying for college exams(I have three exams within 6 days).

While Nixon campaigned, the FBI watched Lennon

2006-09-24T00:06:00.000-05:00

In December 1971, John Lennon sang at an Ann Arbor, Michigan, concert calling for the release of a man who had been given 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. The song he wrote for the occasion, "John Sinclair," was remarkably effective. Within days, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released.

What Lennon did not know at the time was that there were FBI informants in the audience taking notes on everything from the attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song. ("Lacking Lennon's usual standards," his FBI file reports, and "Yoko can't even remain on key.") The government spied on Lennon for the next 12 months and tried to have him deported to England.

This improbable surveillance campaign is the subject of a new documentary, "The U.S. vs. John Lennon." The film makes two important points about domestic surveillance, one well- known, the other quite surprising. With the United States in the midst of a new domestic-spying debate, the story is a cautionary tale.

It focuses on the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the former Beatle used his considerable fame and charisma to oppose the Vietnam War. Lennon attracted worldwide attention in 1969 when he and Yoko Ono married and held their much-publicized "bed-ins" in Amsterdam and Montreal, giving interviews about peace from under their honeymoon sheets. Lennon put to music a simple catch phrase - "All we are saying is give peace a chance" - and the antiwar movement had its anthem. Two years later, he released "Imagine."

The government responded with an extensive surveillance program. Lennon's FBI files - which are collected in the book "Gimme Some Truth" by Jon Wiener - reveal that the bureau was monitoring everything from his appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show" to far more personal matters, like the whereabouts of Ono's daughter from a previous marriage.

The FBI's surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law-enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics. At the time of the John Sinclair rally, there was talk that Lennon would join a national concert tour aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in politics - and at defeating President Richard Nixon, who was running for re-election. There were plans to end the tour with a huge rally at the Republican National Convention.

The FBI's timing is noteworthy. Lennon had been involved in high-profile antiwar activities going back to 1969, but the bureau did not formally open its investigation until January 1972 - the year of Nixon's re-election campaign. In March, just as the presidential campaign was heating up, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to renew Lennon's visa and began deportation proceedings. Nixon was re-elected in November, and a month later, the FBI closed its investigation.

If Lennon was considering actively opposing Nixon's re-election, the spying and the threat of deportation had their intended effect. In May, he announced that he would not be part of any protest activities at the Republican National Convention, and he did not actively participate in the presidential campaign.

After revelations about the many domestic spying abuses of the 1960s and 1970s - including the wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr. - new restrictions were put in place. But these protections are being eroded today, with the president's claim of sweeping new authority to pursue the war on terror.

Critics of today's domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power. "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" would be a sobering film at any time, but it is particularly so right now. It is the story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.

NEW YORK In December 1971, John Lennon sang at an Ann Arbor, Michigan, concert calling for the release of a man who had been given 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. The song he wrote for the occasion, "John Sinclair," was remarkably effective. Within days, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released.

What Lennon did not know at the time was that there were FBI informants in the audience taking notes on everything from the attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song. ("Lacking Lennon's usual standards," his FBI file reports, and "Yoko can't even remain on key.") The government spied on Lennon for the next 12 months and tried to have him deported to England.

This improbable surveillance campaign is the subject of a new documentary, "The U.S. vs. John Lennon." The film makes two important points about domestic surveillance, one well- known, the other quite surprising. With the United States in the midst of a new domestic-spying debate, the story is a cautionary tale.

It focuses on the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the former Beatle used his considerable fame and charisma to oppose the Vietnam War. Lennon attracted worldwide attention in 1969 when he and Yoko Ono married and held their much-publicized "bed-ins" in Amsterdam and Montreal, giving interviews about peace from under their honeymoon sheets. Lennon put to music a simple catch phrase - "All we are saying is give peace a chance" - and the antiwar movement had its anthem. Two years later, he released "Imagine."

The government responded with an extensive surveillance program. Lennon's FBI files - which are collected in the book "Gimme Some Truth" by Jon Wiener - reveal that the bureau was monitoring everything from his appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show" to far more personal matters, like the whereabouts of Ono's daughter from a previous marriage.

The FBI's surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law-enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics. At the time of the John Sinclair rally, there was talk that Lennon would join a national concert tour aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in politics - and at defeating President Richard Nixon, who was running for re-election. There were plans to end the tour with a huge rally at the Republican National Convention.

The FBI's timing is noteworthy. Lennon had been involved in high-profile antiwar activities going back to 1969, but the bureau did not formally open its investigation until January 1972 - the year of Nixon's re-election campaign. In March, just as the presidential campaign was heating up, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to renew Lennon's visa and began deportation proceedings. Nixon was re-elected in November, and a month later, the FBI closed its investigation.

If Lennon was considering actively opposing Nixon's re-election, the spying and the threat of deportation had their intended effect. In May, he announced that he would not be part of any protest activities at the Republican National Convention, and he did not actively participate in the presidential campaign.

After revelations about the many domestic spying abuses of the 1960s and 1970s - including the wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr. - new restrictions were put in place. But these protections are being eroded today, with the president's claim of sweeping new authority to pursue the war on terror.

Critics of today's domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power. "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" would be a sobering film at any time, but it is particularly so right now. It is the story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.

NEW YORK In December 1971, John Lennon sang at an Ann Arbor, Michigan, concert calling for the release of a man who had been given 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. The song he wrote for the occasion, "John Sinclair," was remarkably effective. Within days, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released.

What Lennon did not know at the time was that there were FBI informants in the audience taking notes on everything from the attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song. ("Lacking Lennon's usual standards," his FBI file reports, and "Yoko can't even remain on key.") The government spied on Lennon for the next 12 months and tried to have him deported to England.

This improbable surveillance campaign is the subject of a new documentary, "The U.S. vs. John Lennon." The film makes two important points about domestic surveillance, one well- known, the other quite surprising. With the United States in the midst of a new domestic-spying debate, the story is a cautionary tale.

It focuses on the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the former Beatle used his considerable fame and charisma to oppose the Vietnam War. Lennon attracted worldwide attention in 1969 when he and Yoko Ono married and held their much-publicized "bed-ins" in Amsterdam and Montreal, giving interviews about peace from under their honeymoon sheets. Lennon put to music a simple catch phrase - "All we are saying is give peace a chance" - and the antiwar movement had its anthem. Two years later, he released "Imagine."

The government responded with an extensive surveillance program. Lennon's FBI files - which are collected in the book "Gimme Some Truth" by Jon Wiener - reveal that the bureau was monitoring everything from his appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show" to far more personal matters, like the whereabouts of Ono's daughter from a previous marriage.

The FBI's surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law-enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics. At the time of the John Sinclair rally, there was talk that Lennon would join a national concert tour aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in politics - and at defeating President Richard Nixon, who was running for re-election. There were plans to end the tour with a huge rally at the Republican National Convention.

The FBI's timing is noteworthy. Lennon had been involved in high-profile antiwar activities going back to 1969, but the bureau did not formally open its investigation until January 1972 - the year of Nixon's re-election campaign. In March, just as the presidential campaign was heating up, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to renew Lennon's visa and began deportation proceedings. Nixon was re-elected in November, and a month later, the FBI closed its investigation.

If Lennon was considering actively opposing Nixon's re-election, the spying and the threat of deportation had their intended effect. In May, he announced that he would not be part of any protest activities at the Republican National Convention, and he did not actively participate in the presidential campaign.

After revelations about the many domestic spying abuses of the 1960s and 1970s - including the wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr. - new restrictions were put in place. But these protections are being eroded today, with the president's claim of sweeping new authority to pursue the war on terror.

Critics of today's domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power. "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" would be a sobering film at any time, but it is particularly so right now. It is the story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.

http://www.iht.com/articles/
2006/09/21/opinion/edcohen.php

Stella McCartney in Pregnancy Scare

2006-09-24T00:02:00.000-05:00

Pregnant fashion designer and Stella McCartney was rushed to hospital early this week, after suffering bleeding and abdominal pains which raised concerns over her unborn baby.

The seven months pregnant Beatles heir, who`s expecting her second child, spent a night on 18 Sept at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where after undergoing several tests, she alongwith her baby was declared fine by the doctors, who later allowed her to go home on Tuesday.

However, she was strictly instructed to rest, and call a complete halt to all non-essential activity.

"She has been read the riot act," the Daily Mail quoted a source, as telling the Sun.

"Her condition was viewed as serious by doctors. Medics warned her she must rest completely up until the birth. This means total bed rest," the source added.

A witness at the hospital who saw Stella said: "She was completly distraught."

http://www.zeenews.com/
znnew/articles.asp?aid=3246
18&ssid=101&sid=ENT

Paul McCartney opens up

2006-09-23T23:55:00.000-05:00

“You’ll be met at the station,” teases Paul McCartney’s publicist, “where you’ll be blindfolded and driven to a secret location.” In fact, the assistant who picks me up and drives me in her battered estate car to McCartney’s Sussex recording studio couldn’t be friendlier. No walkie-talkie earpieces or security gates to speak of (although the phrase “hidden devices” almost certainly applies), just an unkempt gravel lane winding through lawns and past rose bushes to a group of buildings high on a ridge, overlooking the English Channel. Oh, and a windmill, naturally.

The property is a short hop from his farm, location of the infamous log cabin over which McCartney is currently in dispute with the planning officers. He is mired in certain other legal disputes, too, and the publicist is at pains to point out that questions on this are verboten. So Heather Mills- McCartney is off limits. Long may she stay that way.

Her estranged husband, far from looking weighed down with anxiety, exudes bonhomie. It is in stark contrast to his demeanour when I last interviewed him, five years ago.

At that time, he was emerging from the deep slough of despair that had claimed him following the death of his first wife, Linda, and was gearing up for his second marriage. Tellingly, he came across then as strident, hectoring, uncomfortable in his skin; he looked old and angry. Today, he is youthful in comparison. Putting the finishing touches to a new pop album, McCartney is doing what he has always done in adversity — seeking refuge, therapy, even, in music.

The only time in his life, he says, when he found this escape route blocked was when Linda died. Music was impossible. He cried for a year. “Life beats you down occasionally,” he says, in his Liverpudlian singsong, “and when it does, you just have to not try. But I am the eternal optimist. No matter how rough it gets, there’s always light somewhere. The rest of the sky may be cloudy, but that little bit of blue draws me on.”

This is one of two points in the interview where what is unspoken hovers, clamorously, in the air. We are sitting in a huge, memento-filled room above the studio, a space filled with light and with views out to sea, above which banks of stupendous clouds scud across a sky that is luminously, unmistakably blue.

You have to keep it together in a situation such as this. When, to illustrate a story he is telling, McCartney drags his sofa closer to the one I’m parked on and begins, “Working with John, like this, him there with his right-handed guitar and me here with my left-handed one”, you feel the finger of history running its nail up your spine. Ditto when you notice that his feet, famously bare on the Abbey Road sleeve, are unshod again. It is an effort to maintain concentration.

But we can dip in and out of all this.

In June, the $170m Beatles-based Cirque du Soleil show LOVE opened in Las Vegas. Last month, it was announced that the Fab Four’s ever alert Apple Corps is suing EMI over unpaid royalties. And in the past fortnight, it has been announced that the Casbah Coffee Club, in Liverpool, where the then Silver Beatles played their first gigs, has been awarded listed status; and that postage stamps bearing the Beatles’ faces are to be issued in January. “And in the end,” they sang in the closing bars of Abbey Road. But it never did end. It goes on.

I ask McCartney if, even now, he has moments where he wants to pinch himself, where he goes: “Eh?” He says at once: “Oh, yeah.” And, in an echo of those sharp early press conferences, where the Fabs toyed with their inquisitors, putting them to the sword with Scouse wordplay and wit, he says of the stamps: “I just want to be licked.”

He is back in the promotional fray to talk about Ecce Cor Meum, his new work for choir and orchestra, which he began working on eight years ago. It’s his fourth classical release, following Liverpool Oratorio, Standing Stone and Working Classical. None was especially well received, but then nor were the majority of his post-Beatles solo albums, nor his paintings, nor his book of poetry. In part, this is because the Lennonists have tended to John’s shrine with, it sometimes seems, burnt offerings in the form of McCartney’s poor-relation reputation. Back in 2001, the latter spat back at these snipers. “I, particularly, took a lot of flak with John,” he said.

“The break-up, and then, of course, when John died ... very tragically. Obviously, people’s sympathy is going to go to him, including mine,” he recalls. “But the picture did get a bit muddy. People did go over the top and say, ‘Well, it was only John, the other three were just hangers-on.’ When you’ve taken so much flak, you do think, enough’s enough.”

There is no trace of that anger today. Rather, he seems sanguine, more able to accommodate the whole mad journey he was a part of. And it is clear that he sees Ecce Cor Meum as very much another stage in that journey. This insistence on continuity, on a thread linking the Beatles with Wings, with his solo career, maddens detractors. But to him it is an inescapable fact. He got “in the vehicle”, as he calls it, when he was a boy, and he is still at the wheel today.

“I love choirs,” he says, explaining the alacrity with which he accepted Magdalen College, Oxford’s commission of a new choral work. “I was in one as a kid, St Barnabas at Penny Lane. And I tried out for Liverpool cathedral, and sort of got to the last stages. But” — and here his faces creases into a delighted grin — “I was not musical enough, obviously. At school, in terms of musical education, I got zero. We’d all go into the classroom, about 30 Liverpool boys, and the teacher would put on a record — Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, something like that — then he’d leave the room. So of course we just took it off, posted a guard on the door, got the ciggies and the cards out, and when he came back, we put the record back on for the last couple of bars. He’d go, ‘What did you think of that?’ And we were like, ‘Oh, really good, sir. Fabulous.’”

Ecce Cor Meum both benefits and suffers from this lack of training. Between reeling out the lines of melody and hauling them back in for each of the four movements’ conclusions, McCartney’s writing — which he did chiefly on a synthesizer, prior to orchestrating it — can potter pleasantly, if aimlessly. His extraordinarily forensic musical ear has picked up not just the rudiments, but somehow also the vernacular of English 20th- century choral and operatic music: echoes abound of Parry, Tippett, Vaughan Williams, William Henry Harris, Herbert Howells; more globally, Berlioz and Bernstein are clear creditors. Moreover, his untrained approach can produce moments of hair-raising modulation and digression. Interlude, which divides the piece, is the most shattering example of this. Set for oboe and choir, its wordless, lulling structure was written in tribute to Linda. “I’ve played it to some people,” says McCartney proudly, “and said nothing, and I’ve seen them welling up. It’s an amazing phenomenon,” he continues quietly. “How chords can be... sad.”

Writing Ecce wasn’t just a case of not following the rules, he says; it’s never been about only that. “We didn’t know the rules. I remember in the very, very early days in Hamburg, asking Tony Sheridan what he thought of one of our songs, and he said, ‘Well, it’s just a scale.’ So much of what we did (he starts to sing)...‘Last night I said these words’; so you’ve got to go, ‘To my girl.’” Again, the finger works up the spine. “You’ve got to break it and not have it too scaley. Scales are great, they’re hooky. But then you think, ‘Okay, now let’s get away from that, let’s do the one-note thing.’ I remember when I was writing She’s Leaving Home, trying to not change the chord.” He sings again. “So, you know, it’s ‘She’s... leaving... home’, and it just stays on that chord. So then, when it lets go, it’s lovely. You get the release.”

The crude characterisations of McCartney the soppy dramatist, Lennon the visceral diarist, were always just that: partisan simplifications that obscured far more than they unearthed. It was McCartney, after all, who first experimented with tape loops (a process that bore glorious fruit in Tomorrow Never Knows); who was into Berio and Stockhausen, and part-funded the avant-garde Indica gallery, where, ironically, Lennon first met Yoko. That all this is often overlooked is, McCartney says, because of what he calls “the surface image”. “I didn’t want to shout about them, but I’d like them on the record. But it is an image thing. Mine has always been a bit sort of clean-living or whatever, until” — and here he twinkles mischievously and pauses — “... not always.”

He is, he says, beginning to be able to assess what the Beatles achieved, what they meant, what they still mean. He found the Cirque du Soleil show very emotional. “Because it’s my mates, and because of the fact that it’s no more, except on record — physically no more. In the middle of the show, I was sitting next to Ringo, I was welling up, and I just turned to him and said, ‘F***ing great band. Listen to these noises. How did we do that?’” He is still making those noises; is still, he admits, in pursuit, hearing a chord, bumping into a phrase and off he goes.

Downstairs, post-interview, he takes me into the kitchen, where a table is laid with food, and makes me a doggy bag for the train, including a slice of sponge cake.

“Excuse fingers,” he says.

Like I was going to insist on an ex-Beatle using the tongs.

Briefly, I toy with putting the cake up for auction on eBay. But you know what? I ate it instead, fingerprints and all. But I kept the napkin he wrapped it in. As you would.

A life in music

1964 Things We Said Today Macca at his most plaintive and melodically meandering on this minor-key gem from A Hard Day’s Night.

1966 Eleanor Rigby McCartney’s most evocative lyric, and a song that did justice to The Times’s famous Schubert comparisons.

1968 Helter Skelter George called his record label Dark Horse, but it was McCartney, on this White Album, Manson Family-inspiring shocker, who emerged, black as night, from the Beatles stable.

1970 Maybe I’m Amazed People say Patti Boyd inspired great love songs (Something, Layla), but Linda did too.

1975 Listen to What the Man Said One of many songs where you think: nobody else would have bothered to write a bass line this complex and this beautiful.

1982 Here Today From the great Tug of War, the first album McCartney made after Lennon was killed, a heartfelt but unblinking ode to his erstwhile friend.

2001 Blackbird Singing McCartney mixed song lyrics with poetry in this book, writing movingly about Linda.

2005 Riding to Vanity Fair A return to old wounds on last year’s Chaos and Creation album? John’s ghost haunts it.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
article/0,,2101-2366846_1,00.html

I put the laughs inYellow Submarine

2006-09-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

It may have been the decade of free love and free thinking but in Liverpool in the 1960s, even Paul McCartney thought poetry was "a bit too girly".

However, that didn't stop Roger McGough from following his dream of becoming a poet - and as anyone who grew up reading his verse will attest, that determination is something we should all be thankful for.

As one third of poetry collective The Mersey Sound with Adrian Henri and Brian Patten, McGough - who comes to the Arts Theatre on Sunday - managed to turn the stuffy image of poetry on its head with volumes of genuinely witty verse and sellout live performances.

It was after one of these performances that McCartney passed his less than favourable judgement on McGough and his oeuvre.

"I knew The Beatles through art college and my girlfriend, just to nod to and be jealous of even though they were slightly younger," he recalls. "They'd been to Hamburg and had posh leather jackets.

"Paul and George used to come to some things we did but they didn't think much of poetry, Paul told me that himself. He said him and John used to go to a bookshop called Phillips and Matthews and look at the poetry section. He said they quite liked Auden, but he thought poetry was a bit too far out, a bit too weird and girly."

Despite hanging out with musicians and hailing from one of the most important musical cities in the world, it was not an avenue he ever expected to go down himself. But that didn't stop him from having a number one hit with Lily the Pinkwith his band The Scaffold. The group couldn't play a note and so the likes of Elton John, Jack Bruce and Jimi Hendrix had to provide all the actual music for their records.

"My earliest albums always involved poetry and music." He tells scene. "I never used to do it much live but there was a lot of it, jazz musicians would do it because it was another gig but I was never really into jazz.

"I knew quite early on I wasn't a musician. I worked with all sorts of great musicians like Jimi Hendrix but you know that you are not a musician when you get with those kind of people. Sometimes I wish I was and I envy those people but I was always a writer and a poet."

And his abilities to craft the English language in new and exciting ways came in handy when The Beatles ventured into the cartoon world. Many people don't know about McGough's involvement with the animated psychedelic classic The Yellow Submarinebut that's because until recently, his name appeared nowhere in the credits.

"Every time you laughed or smiled at that film, that was me responsible," he says proudly. "But no-one knew it was me because that was part of the deal.

The Liverpudlian poet talks to NIK SHELTON about, Dylan, Brando, The Beatles and Salman Rushdie "I was invited to Liverpuddlianise it. There had been a lot of scripts and the one I got was by someone who was a Harvard professor, it was very erudite.

"I just came in to do a bit of script doctoring but there were a lot scenes that I wrote completely. When my agent tried to get me a credit the Americans behind it wouldn't have it.

"I didn't fight it at the time because it didn't seem that important and I had other things to do. I could tell people but they wouldn't believe me because my name wasn't on screen. It was only in retrospect that I thought, 'That was really mean'."

This and other fascinating tales of a life in words and language are told in his new autobiography Said and Done,which he will be reading from during his appearance in Cambridge.

Among other things, the book relates his encounters over the years with his idols from singers and actors like Bob Dylan and Marlon Brando to fellow scribes Allen Ginsberg and Salman Rushdie.

That he has a big enough audience to write an autobiography and tour with a one man show is testament to the effect his work has had on the nation over the past 40 years. He emerged at a time when the only poets anyone had ever heard of were dead.

But the literary landscape looks a lot different now.

"There weren't any poets when I was growing up. It wasn't until my 20s I heard about the jazz poets in London like Laurie Lee.

That seemed so far off and sophisticated. In Liverpool there was nothing.

"It's a bit more accessible now. When I started doing Mersey Sound it wasn't long after I'd stopped teaching and there was very little poetry in schools.

"The only thing was the Palgrave's Golden Treasury of Verse that I'd had at school.

Nowadays there are so many poets who write for children as well; Brian Patten, John Agard, Benjamin Zephaniah.

"These are names children will know so there's been a breakthrough in that sense."

Roger McGough is at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on Sunday at 7.45pm.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/
lifestyle/stage_screen/
news/2006/09/21/45bf1dcd-e35a
-4eac-84be-4bcc095bf8bf.lpf

Top Ten Songs by the Beatles

2006-09-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

By: A. Bertocci

The legendary Beatles catalog is so full of hits, of inspiration, of beauty and of tears that a top ten list is a futile effort as best, an unpleasant one at worst. To preface such a list with a lame disclaimer is, by contrast, easy. All too easy. What you have here didn’t come from a master of music theory or a noted rock journalist. Just a fan with some great memories of his favorite band. It will have to do for now.

(1) Let it Be
Stripped down to the bare essentials of a voice and a piano, it doesn’t take long for this song’s simple words and message to grip the audience and provide something instantly hummable and endlessly comforting. You truly realize the depth of the musical genius when a ‘wrong’ chord at the three-minute mark sounds suspiciously correct. Somehow it all fits.

(2) A Day in the Life
But simplicity only gets you so far. The fusion of two different compositions from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the full and sumptuous arrangement of this epic, impressionistic piece provides a tour of life both real and imagined, from the mundane to the spectacular. Featuring everything from an improvised orchestral crescendo to an alarm clock to a powerful three-piano final chord, it is a masterpiece of complex composition and revolutionary production.

(3) Hey Jude
The sheer audacity of a seven-minute song comprised largely of “na-na-na-na” is tribute to the musical imagination of the Beatles. Everything, even Ringo’s late entry into the piece, comes together for a listening experience that gets people chanting even today.

(4) Penny Lane
Is it the joyous ascension or the jovial, almost casual downbeats, that make people remember the trumpets? This surrealist ode to English suburban living. Now if people would just stop stealing the street signs in Liverpool.

(7) Eleanor Rigby
With moving, poignant lyrics about loneliness and aging, “Eleanor Rigby” is a striking example of the Beatles’ brilliant transition into serious songwriting. To truly appreciate it, one must listen to the strings-only recording on the Anthology compilation, and immerse oneself in the eight-piece orchestra’s somber dirge. Pop grows up, and it is beautiful.

(8) Yesterday
The most frequently covered and recorded song in all of popular music, its haunting melody is so simple that even Paul McCartney could not believe no one had come up with it before.

(9) Strawberry Fields Forever
Psychedelic rock came into its own with John Lennon’s peaceful musical trip; it’s no wonder Lennon’s final, sweet, (mostly) silent resting place came to bear the name Strawberry Fields. Don’t forget to listen for the famous “Cranberry sauce” murmurs at the end.

(10) I Want to Hold Your Hand
The famous “British invasion” was spearheaded by this infectious hit. The face of American music was changed forever by the influence of this newfangled Fab Four. With every triumphant leap up the scale on “hand!”, a new era in music was reached. Oh, and it’s fun, too. Of course, the British already knew it all along. And listening to the blissful confidence in Lennon and McCartney’s voices, they knew, too.

By Liz Herrin

Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album. The list of timeless and revolutionary albums seems almost unreal. How could one band have so many hits?
I’d probably have trouble picking out the top 10 Beatles albums lent alone songs. So acknowledging that it’s enough of a task just to pick out the top ten hits, there’s no way I can go so far as to rank them.
With that in mind, here’s my list in no particular order. (And please don’t respond with angry emails informing me which Beatles gem I left off the list. I’m aware some hits are going to be left behind in the dust of my all too cursory list.)

1.Twist and Shout
Why it made the list: This pop rock anthem has enough snap, crackle and pop to make a mummy move. Well…that might be stretching it slightly, but it’s certainly catchy.
It’s one of those immediately recognizable songs that sneak into feel good films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (think the parade scene when Ferris takes over a float and Ferris’ unsuspecting dad dances in his high-rise office.)
It puts a smile on my face after the first familiar bar, and that alone is reason enough to put it on my list.

2.A Hard Day’s Night
Why it made the list: Come on. Any song that gets an entire movie named after it deserves to make the top list.
But I have to admit, my reasoning for adding it to the list is much stranger than just an appreciation for the Beatle’s ability to cross media mediums. I laugh every time I think of this song because of an old Saturday Night Live “Celebrity Jeopardy” skit. The category is “Words that rhyme with dog.” Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell) asks his celebrity guests to finish this sentence—It’s been a hard day’s night, I should be sleeping like a…this. Sean Connery (Daryl Hammond) quickly buzzes in. Trebek looks hopeful. “Yes, Sean Connery.” “Chinese whore!” Connery seems so sure of his answer, so proud. It’s hysterical, and single-handedly earns A Hard Days’s Night a coveted spot on my list.

3.Help!
Why it made the list: Again, if it engenders a film, it probably deserves to be on the list. At least the song version of Help! wasn’t as atrocious as the film version (don’t hate me hardcore Beatles fans…)

4.Drive My Car
Why it made the list: I’ve always loved this song. My dad used to blast it while we were on family road trips. (My siblings and I cultivated a love for the Beatles this way.) So for the sake of personal nostalgia, on the list it goes.

5.Yesterday
Why it made the list: This song is just plain haunting. There are certain songs that by virtue of their sappy nature and slow rhythm become staples for weddings, graduations, christenings…you name it.
And while Yesterday is admittedly present at many of these milestones, it’s always meaningful and perpetually heartfelt. It’s not sugarcoated, and it doesn’t feel the need to apologize for that. I respect that enough to add it to my list.

6.Eleanor Rigby
Why it made the list: Granted, the line, “Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door” has always intrigued me and is just sufficiently strange enough to secure it on the list.
But the real reason is that I had to play this song in my high school orchestra. After learning a song and playing it for months, one gains a new appreciation for it.

7.I am the Walrus
Why it made the list: Some people say they don’t even listen to the lyrics of a song, and this never ceases to shock me. Lyrics can really make or break a song for me, and in the case of this song, it absolutely makes it (not that the music isn’t phenomenal as well).
This stanza was the clincher:
Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your Knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus,
goo goo gajoob
Now I don’t pretend to know what that means, but I know I like it.

8.Strawberry Fields Forever
Why it made the list: Somehow this seems like such a definitive Beatles songs I just had to put it on the list. If I didn’t, it would be like having a Bob Dylan Best Of and not including The Times They Are A-Changin’. It just wouldn’t seem right.

9.Come Together
Why it made the list: The constant stops and starts of this song are what make it so classic. The rhythm of the song never lets you get comfortable, and consequently it feels innovative when you listen to it.
Not to mention the creative things they do with lyrics. I particularly like the paralleled lines “He got hair down to his knee” in the fist stanza and “He got feet down below his knee” in the third.

10.Tax Man
Why it made the list: There’s quite a bit of political angst loosely hidden behind its pop music veneer. Don’t tell me you don’t hear a smidgeon of anger in the chorus:
(if you drive a car, car;) - I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I'll tax your feet.
Great music with a message? It had to make the list.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/
article/60973/top_ten_songs_
by_the_beatles.html?page=2

New Book: The Unreleased Beatles

2006-09-20T13:09:00.000-05:00

Music fans might think they've heard it all from the Beatles, the most popular band ever. But even hardcore Beatles fanatics will learn about a treasure trove of undiscovered material in Backbeat Books' newly published The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film.

The staggering wealth of unreleased material encompasses the Beatles' entire career, from a recording of the Quarrymen on July 6, 1957 (also known as "the day John met Paul"), right up to outtakes from the final sessions of Let It Be in 1970.

It's all here: unreleased studio outtakes, BBC radio recordings from 1962-1965, live concert performances, home demo recordings, fan club Christmas recordings, other informal recordings done outside of EMI studios, and even a wrap-up of Beatles compositions that were never recorded.

The visual treasures uncovered by author Richie Unterberger are just as tantalizing: Super-8 film of an early, unknown performance; 1962 footage from the Cavern Club; four songs from a 1963 Swedish TV show; never-broadcast rehearsal footage from The Ed Sullivan Show; UK, French, German, Japanese, and Australian television specials; unseen film from the 1965 Shea Stadium concert; promo films; footage of the band's trip to India; and more.

The book includes chronological entries for all of the Beatles' unreleased recordings of note, as well as all of the unreleased video footage from 1961-1970 and outtakes from 1990s interviews filmed for Anthology. There's also a general overview of Beatles bootlegs, Beatles songs recorded by other artists in the '60s, and more than 100 photos of documenting the full range of unreleased material.

Richie Unterberger is the author of Backbeat's Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll; Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution; and Eight Miles High. He has written numerous CD reissue liner notes, and he co-edited the All Music Guide to Rock.

http://www.whatgoeson.com/
story.200609201.html

McCartney Divorce: Mill's Video Diary Vexes Paul

2006-09-17T00:06:00.000-05:00

Heather Mills' video diary of her divorce from Paul McCartney has the ex-Beatle worrying about his personal business finding its way to reality TV.

The dish from the Daily Mail a few weeks back was that Mills was recording the ongoing split to provide her with a hammer as the proceedings work their way to a final settlement.

The newspaper indicated at the time that sources confirmed Paul was worried his estranged wife's new body of work might turn into a TV series with Heather conveniently cast as the victim.

A spokesman for Mills said the former model was actually recording the antics of the paparazzi wolf pack that has followed her every move since the breakup.

McCartney has reportedly offered his estranged $72 million to divorce and never discuss their marriage in public.

http://www.postchronicle.com/
news/original/article_21239538.shtml

The U.S. Vs. John Lennon

2006-09-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

The new documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," which opens Friday Sept. 15 in New York and Los Angeles (and nationwide Sept. 29), tells the story of Lennon's transformation from loveable moptop to anti-war activist, and recounts the facts about Nixon's campaign to deport him in 1972 in an effort to silence him as a voice of the peace movement.

In the film, Walter Cronkite explains that J. Edgar Hoover "had a different conception of democracy" from the rest of us; George McGovern talks about losing the 1972 election to Nixon; Sixties veterans Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, John Sinclair and Tariq Ali recall their movement days; and G. Gordon Liddy happily explains the Nixon point of view: Lennon was "a high profile figure, so his activities were being monitored."

Those "activities" – planning a concert tour that would combine rock music with antiwar organizing and voter registration for the 1972 election – were stopped cold by Nixon's deportation order; but more than 30 years later, in the 2004 election, another group of rock stars finally did exactly what Lennon had been thinking about doing.

Although the Lennon film never explicitly connects the Vietnam war to Iraq, it's impossible not to think of the present when Nixon is shown saying, "as South Vietnamese forces become stronger, the rate of American withdrawal can become greater" (and then wipes sweat off his upper lip). But there's only one explicit reference to the present in the film, and it's brief: Gore Vidal says "Lennon represented life, and Mr. Nixon, and Mr. Bush, represent death."

The real star of the film of course is Lennon, whose biting wit shines through. On his way to his deportation hearing, a newsman says, "You say you've been in trouble all your life – why is that?" "I'm just one of those faces," he replies; "people never liked me face." (I worked on the film as historical consultant, and appear in it briefly.)

Nixon got the idea of deporting Lennon from an unlikely source: Strom Thurmond, Republican Senator from South Carolina, who sent a letter to the White House in 1972 that outlined Lennon's plans for a U.S. concert tour that would combine rock music with antiwar organizing and voter registration. Thurmond knew that 1972 was the first year 18-year-olds were given the right to vote, and that Nixon, up for reelection, worried about 11 million new voters — who were probably all Beatle fans and mostly anti-war. Thurmond's memo observed that Lennon was in the U.S. as a British citizen, and concluded "deportation would be a strategic counter-measure."

It worked; the Lennon tour never happened.

For the next 30 years, the idea of a tour combining rock music and voter registration languished, until 2004, when Bruce Springsteen and a group of activist rock musicians did an election year concert tour of battleground states with a strategy very much like Lennon's. The "" tour, organized by MoveOn PAC, brought the Dixie Chicks, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, and a dozen others on a tour of swing states, with the explicit goal of getting young rock fans to register to vote and vote against the Republican in the White House.

If the idea of using rock concerts to register young voters was the same, the 2004 tour had different politics from its 1972 predecessor – that much is clear from the one concert Lennon did do before the deportation order came down: the "Free John Sinclair" concert in Ann Arbor in December, 1971. Sinclair was a Michigan activist who had been in prison for two years for selling two joints of marijuana to an undercover cop; 15,000 people turned out for the concert. "The U.S. versus John Lennon" features footage from that concert, including wildly radical speeches by Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale, who said "the only solution to pollution is a people's humane revolution!"

The Vote for Change tour had much less political talk, and much milder rhetoric. On opening night in Philadelphia in October, 2004, Bruce Springsteen made only a brief political statement: "We're here to fight for a government that is open, rational, forward-looking and humane," he said – not quite the same as Jerry Rubin at the 1972 concert shouting "what we are doing here is uniting music and revolutionary politics to build a revolution around the country!"

The 2004 effort was much bigger and better organized than what Lennon had in mind. It included thirty-three concerts on a coordinated schedule that moved from battleground state to state. On opening night a month before election day the focus was Pennsylvania. Springsteen played in Philadelphia, the Dixie Chicks played Pittsburgh, Dave Matthews did State College, Pearl Jam was in Reading, John Mellencamp in Wilkes-Barre and Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt in Erie. The next night they all moved to Ohio, then Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Florida, and then a giant finale brought everyone together in Washington, DC.

Of course 1972 and 2004 ended the same way – with the re-election of the Republican incumbent. In '72, Nixon won by a landslide; in 2004, Bush barely won the popular vote – you might call that progress.

One factor has remained the same over the last 35 years – young voters are the least likely to vote, and potentially a rich source of progressive support. The challenge of overcoming their apathy and ignorance remains – as does the strategy of reaching them through music. Thus what Lennon thought about in 1972, and what Bruce Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks and others did in 2004, remains a key to mobilizing young voters in the future.

As Lennon says in "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," "our job now is to tell them that there still is hope, we must get them excited about what we can do again."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/
2006/09/15/opinion/
main2014623.shtml

U2 can walk across Abbey Road, Bono

2006-09-16T23:58:00.000-05:00

Is the iconic shot for the album Abbey Road which has been copied by thousands of Beatles fans. But this time, the fans re-enacting the famous walk outside the Abbey Road studios can say they know a bit about music themselves.

Bono and U2 were joined by American rockers Green Day for a photo opportunity while the two bands recorded a duet together. And on hand to catch the moment on video was Bob Geldof, who was filming proceedings in the studio.

The studio was the birthplace to most of the Beatles records, and countless other classic albums from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to Radiohead's Kid A.

According to U2's website the two bands will re-record a version of The Skids' 1978 post-punk classic The Saints Are Coming.

The track should be featured on the album which the Irish supergroup have been recording at the famous studios during the past week.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
entertainment/2006-09/
15/content_689934.htm

Beatles Club Was Given Protected Heritage Status

2006-09-16T23:54:00.000-05:00

The Casbah Coffee Club was given Grade II Listed status on the recommendation of conservation body English Heritage. The designation means the venue, which still contains original artwork and musical equipment, is of "special architectural or historic interest" and cannot be demolished. Bob Hawkins of English Heritage said the club was "in a remarkably well-preserved condition with wall and ceiling paintings of spiders, dragons, rainbows and stars by original band members along with 1960s musical equipment, amplifiers and original chairs.

In the early part of 1959 Mrs Best (Mo) watched a television programme about a coffee bar in London, it was called The Two Eyes Café and with a constant stream of London beat groups it was proving to be very successful. There was nothing like it in Liverpool. An idea was born, and the very next day Pete Best and Rory Best with a host of friends began to clear the cellars of their large Victorian house. The venue that was to become the Casbah.

They were going to have their own coffee bar, they were going to have Liverpool beat groups playing there and it was going to be called The Casbah Coffee Club. George had two friends who weren't doing anything. They were John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The group was formed and they performed as The Quarrymen on the opening night of the Casbah.

The Quarrymen disbanded. John, Paul, George, and their latest recruit Stuart Sutcliffe had gone through name changes and avery lack lustre tour of Scotland. They still came to the Casbah regularly to socialise. It was here that they watched ex-band membe Ken Brown with his new group The Blackjacks, featuring Pete Best, perform.

Paul McCartney made the approach for Pete Best to join the Silver Beatles. They had an offer to play in Hamburg, Germany. Pete auditioned, passed with flying colours, and became a member of the group. The week leading up to their departure for foreign shores the group rehearsed relentlessly at the Casbah. Somewhere between Liverpool they agreed the 'Silver' should be permanently dropped from the band's name.

On the 17th of December 1960 The Beatles played their first Liverpool date at the Casbah. They blew the roof of the place, the audience couldn't believe what they were seeing, and so it was that Beatle mania began.

The building, still owned by the Best family, features murals and paintings by members of the band and by Lennon's first wife, Cynthia. After many years, the Casbah is once again open to the public. The Casbah is only 3.5 miles from Liverpool city centre and easy to get to by car, taxi or bus.

http://home.nestor.minsk.by/
jazz/news/2006/09/1601.html

George Harrison's Label Give iTunes The Cold Shoulder

2006-09-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

The Beatles’ own label Apple Corps has had a long-standing run in with Apple over the company selling music products.

Now it’s been alleged that Harrison’s label EMI are releasing the album digitally later this month but without using Apple as an avenue.

As BBC6music reports, the album will be available through ‘a variety of digital services’, although which ones are yet to be confirmed.

‘Living in the Material World’ charted at number one when it was originally released back in 1973.

http://www.gigwise.com/
news.asp?contentid=22239

McCartney fails to win over council planners

2006-09-15T00:04:00.000-05:00

Paul McCartney failed to resolve his differences with his local council today, despite offering to demolish one of his houses on his sprawling country estate to save a log cabin built without planning permission.

The rock legend has been locked in a dispute with planning officers over the secluded timber lodge and gym built in the grounds of Woodlands Farm in Brede Lane, Peasmarsh, near Rye, East Sussex.

In a supporting statement on behalf of the ex-Beatle to Rother District Council, McCartney, 64, previously said he needed the two-bedroom lodge for “privacy, seclusion and security“.

However, the council refused him retrospective planning permission for the structures, because it said they harmed the landscape quality of the High Weald area of outstanding natural beauty.

The council’s refusal, plus the threat of enforcement action, led to McCartney offering to demolish a three-bedroom detached house in his grounds, known as Beanacres, and two agricultural barns, to compensate for being allowed to keep his lodge.

Today, planning councillors met at Bexhill Town Hall but declined to back the recommendation of officers to approve the scheme, prolonging the stand-off between McCartney and council planners.

McCartney was not present at the meeting as councillors instead voted in favour of a site visit to his country estate. Photographs and drawings of the site had failed to satisfy some members of the impact the changes would have.

Councillor David Vereker said: “If we go along this route we will be creating a very, very difficult precedent.”

Councillor Keith Standring questioned why a solid house like Beanacres should be granted demolition approval when there was a need for housing in the district.

Councillors heard that McCartney’s plan was being opposed by Peasmarsh Parish Council, whose officials said they might recommend consent if he offered a “planning gain” to the village, such as social housing.

Head of planning Frank Rallings said a site inspection will be arranged before the next planning committee on October 12.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/
breaking/story.asp?j=225
562660&amp;p=zz5563
475&n=225563546&x=

Book reveals John Lennon regretted Jesus remark

2006-09-14T23:42:00.000-05:00

Forty years ago John Lennon was embroiled in a controversy over his statement that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. However, as is revealed in a new book, Lennon later regretted making the comment and for a brief period in the 1970s experimented with Christianity.

In his new book The Gospel according to the Beatles, author Steve Turner tells for the first time how Lennon made contact with the television evangelist Oral Roberts in 1972 confessing his dependence on drugs and asking what Christianity could do for him. "Is it phoney?" he asked. "Can He love me? I want out of hell."

The Beatle enclosed a gift for the Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and after reminding Roberts that he'd once sung the line "money can't buy me love" said; "It's true The point is this, I want happiness. I don't want to keep on with drugs."

Roberts sent Lennon a copy of his book Miracle of Seed Faith. "I thank God that you finally regret thinking any man or group could be more popular than Jesus," he wrote in the accompanying letter. "Jesus is the only reality."

There is no record of any further correspondence between the Beatle and the evangelist although five years later he became enamoured of Pat Robertson's The 700 Club and Franco Zeffirelli's film Jesus of Nazareth. For a period of around two months he considered himself a born-again Christian and peppered his conversations with exclamations of "Praise the Lord!"

http://www.whatgoeson.com/
story.200609131.html

Beatles convention sure to be fab-tastic

2006-09-14T23:24:00.000-05:00

Beatlemania is about to hit Toronto. The Toronto Beatle Celebration promises to be the biggest Fab Four convention ever held in Canada. Dave McGinn spoke to convention producer David Goyette.

Q The convention sounds huge, but will it be bigger than Jesus?

Goyette: Bigger than Jesus? This is a matter of judgment, isn't it? It is without doubt the biggest Beatles convention we've ever had in Toronto or in Canada.

Q Former Beatles drummer Pete Best will be at the convention, as will John Lennon's former companion Mary Pang and a slew of musicians from the Beatles' heyday. Was it hard to get them to come?

Goyette: My co-producer is a fellow by the name of Peter Miniaci, who's the president of the Toronto Beatlemania shop. He's known all of these folks for quite some time and has good working relationships with them. It's one of the reasons we're able to attract people to our event that other conventions have not been able to.

Q Why are Star Trek conventions nerdy while Beatles' conventions are cool?

Goyette: What's cool about it, I suppose, is that for many people, particularly people of the Boomer age, Beatles music represents a kind of cultural anthem for the times.

Q: The cover band that will be there, 1964 The Tribute, which Rolling Stone once called the best Beatles tribute band in the world -- do they have bowl cuts?

Goyette: They do. They are stitch for stitch, guitar for guitar, amp for amp, perfection in every way. They cover the period roughly from 1964 to 1966. It's exactly like seeing the Beatles.

Q: Paul McCartney has never given his backing to any Beatles convention, but he gave it to this one. How'd you score that?

Goyette: This is a coup without any doubt. This is the first time any Beatle ever has given his blessing if you will to a Beatles convention anywhere in the world. We had decided early on that we would contribute some of our revenues to a charity of choice, and the charity we decided on was called Adopt a Minefield. It seemed to be timely because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It turns out that McCartney took kindly to this because he's a goodwill ambassador for the Adopt a Minefield movement. He got in touch with the Canadian Landmine Foundation who got in touch with us and said, 'Would you like some support and recognition?' We were just floored.

Q Who's your favourite Beatle?

Goyette: My traditional answer has been John Lennon. But I think because of Paul's letter I'm going to switch my alliance.

Q: There's plenty of guests coming from around the world. Are many of them Canadian?

Goyette: We were determined to make sure we had sufficient Canadian talent and local talent. For example, there's a guy from Halifax named Hal Bruce. His claim to fame is he is a regular at the Liverpool Beatle convention. He's a one-man band and he does every Beatles song ever recorded -- if you want -- in a row.

Q: Awesome.

Goyette: Yeah.

- The Toronto Beatles Celebration runs Sept. 16-17, Queen Elizabeth Building and Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Exhibition Place.

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/
toronto/story.html?id=d6f65e48-
ea35-44be-83d7-cbaa03eb9e5a&k=597

Sean Lennon's Second Record

2006-09-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

Friendly Fire, the sophomore solo album from Sean Lennon, will be released by Capitol Records on October 3rd.

Following Into the Sun, Lennon’s acclaimed 1998 solo debut, Friendly Fire is a cinematic suite of songs which share the same dizzying wealth of musical styles as its predecessor, but eschews some of its freeform tendencies for more traditional song structure and some unifying themes.

The years between albums found Lennon collaborating with everyone from his mother, Yoko Ono, to Money Mark, Deltron 3030, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Vincent Gallo, Thurston Moore, John Zorn, Ryan Adams, The Boredoms, and Ben Lee, to name a few. But they also provided him with the opportunity to let Friendly Fire evolve naturally, at its own pace, and to limit participation to talented friends, of which he’s blessed with many.

“There was a long period after the first album where I felt disillusioned with the machinery of the industry,” says Lennon. “It’s not that I stopped recording, playing and performing, I did all of those things, just more discreetly. Friendly Fire is an experiment to see what it might be like to do music more publicly again.”

Produced by Lennon, the Friendly Fire sessions really got underway when he asked producer/engineer Tom Biller (among other things Jon Brion’s trusted mixer for his recordings with Fiona Apple and Kanye West, as well as the scores for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I (Heart) Huckabees) and drummer Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Tori Amos) into the studio for two weeks of collaboration.

Where Lennon played most all instruments on his debut, the Friendly Fire sessions found him still writing most of the parts, but conjuring a shape-shifting “band” to record live to tape, mostly in single takes. Other participants included Jon Brion (organ, guitar, additional drums), Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda (piano, keyboards, bass), Harper Simon (guitar) and Bijou Phillips (background vocals), among others.

A childlike piano prelude introduces sweeping album opener “Dead Meat,” the sweetest, most lush-sounding song to ever warn “In the end you’re gonna learn/All you get is what you deserve.” Similarly, the dark romanticism of the gentle, melodic “Parachute” intones “If I have to die tonight/I’d rather be with you.”

The smoky, endearingly spooky “Tomorrow” is a cursed lovers’ ballad picked up via deep-space transistor radio. Driven by handclaps and acoustic strumming, “Headlights” is most propelled by its gracefully-unfolding vocal harmonies. And a near-unrecognizable psychedelic reworking of Marc Bolan obscurity “Would I Be the One” floats and disperses before the album’s final track, and perhaps its most literal, the forlorn and orchestral “Falling Out of Love.”

Lennon has also produced a short film for each of the album’s tracks, directed by Michele Civetta. The fantastical shorts, which together comprise a conceptual film about betrayal and the failure of love, feature appearances from Lennon and friends including Lindsay Lohan, Bijou Phillips, Asia Argento, Carrie Fisher, Devon Aoki, Jordana Brewster and others.

As for the experience of creating Friendly Fire the album versus Friendly Fire the film Lennon says, “Music is invisible. I spend a lot of time in the studio with my eyes closed. This, thankfully, was not the case with the film.”

http://www.filter-mag.com/
artists/interior.212.html

Donald Trump blames Paul McCartney for his divorce mess

2006-09-12T23:03:00.000-05:00

With the way the ongoing bitter divorce battle between Sir Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills has shaped up, property tycoon Donald Trump has said that McCartney was solely to blame for the mess he found himself in today.

Macca's decision for not writing up a pre-nuptial agreement before marrying the former model has been labeled "idiotic" by twice-divorced Trump, who believes that McCartney shouldn't have allowed romance to cloud his judgment, as business should always come before love.

"I know I sound like a broken record, but get a prenup. I don't care how much you love your fiancée, it's just idiotic to get married without one," Contactmusic quoted Trump, as saying.

"Don't believe me? Ask Paul MCCartney what he thinks. I know he wishes he had one."

McCartney and Mills separated in May (06) and are currently in the process of getting a divorce.

http://news.sawf.org/
Entertainment/20753.aspx

Beatles album covers made into stamps

2006-09-12T12:18:00.000-05:00

The Royal Mail is saluting the Beatles in January by releasing six commemorative stamps illustrated with memorable album covers.

The set includes ran image of "With the Beatles," released in 1963, which was the group's second album. In the United States, it was the first Beatles album to be released and was titled "Meet the Beatles."

Others in the series include "Help!" (1965), "Revolver" (1966), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967), "Abbey Road" (1969) and "Let It Be" (1970).

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
pop/1403AP_Beatles_Stamps.html

McCartney's lyrics reveal break-up bitterness

2006-09-11T00:43:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney wrote songs about his failing marriage more than a year before he broke up with Heather Mills, it has emerged.

Friends have told how he poured out his heart in his album last year with several thinly-veiled comments about the relationship.

In the album - Chaos and Creation In The Backyard - McCartney appears to accuse his 38-year-old wife of humiliating him, shunning his attempts to rebuild their friendship and preferring publicity to love.

One of the most startling examples comes in the bitter track Riding to Vanity Fair, which at the time some claimed could have been about Geoff Baker, the PR man he sacked, or even John Lennon.

The song, according to friends, has much more to do with Miss Mills, who gave an interview to the American magazine weeks before their marriage in 2002.

'All Paul's emotions and troubles because of the marriage to Heather are in that song,' one close friend told the Sunday Mirror yesterday.

'He is saying how the love has gone out of their relationship and is putting the blame squarely on Heather.

'Paul tells Heather how she has humiliated him and treated him like a fool. He says he was prepared to put up with that treatment because he loved her. He wrote how he permanently wanted her to be his friend.

'But the song says she turned down the chance - because she was more interested in publicity.

'Paul was using Vanity Fair to symbolise her love of the limelight generally.'

One line says: 'I was open to friendship, But you didn't seem to have any to spare, While you were riding to Vanity Fair.' The song was recorded at the Ocean Way Recording Studio in Los Angeles last March, 14 months before 64-year-old Sir Paul decided to end their fouryear marriage. The album, released in September last year, reached number ten in the UK charts.

Other songs such as Friends To Go, Certain Softness and Anyway, viewed with the benefit of hindsight-all suggest more than a hint of Heather as inspiration.

The News of the World claimed Sir Paul and his wife were close to agreeing a £40million divorce settlement. But a source close to Miss Mills denied this.

Paul's omen in a song

Riding To Vanity Fair 'You can put me down, But I can laugh it off, And act like nothing's wrong You're not aware, Of what you put me through, But now the feeling's gone I was open to friendship, But you didn't seem to have any to spare, While you were riding to Vanity Fair.'

Friends To Go 'I've been waiting till the danger is past, I don't know how long the storm is gonna last, if we're gonna carry on I'll be waiting on the other side, for your friends to go.'

Certain Softness 'A kind of wildness, in her style, haunts my memory, more than I ever thought it would, A touch of wildness, in her style, got me hooked.'

Anyway 'If we could be, closer longer, That would help me, help me so much, We can cure each other's sorrow, Won't you please, please, please get in touch.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
pages/live/articles/showbiz/
showbiznews.html?in_article
_id=404507&in_page_id=1773

A Picture and A Thousand Words

2006-09-11T00:31:00.000-05:00

As leader of the Beatles and as a solo artist, in timeless anthems such as "All You Need Is Love," "Give Peace A Chance" and "Imagine," in bed with Yoko Ono, at press conferences, concerts and demonstrations, John Lennon did something that nobody in pop culture had every done before and really hasn't done since — use his fame to help mobilize a generation of young people to choose love and peace instead of violence and war.

In 1969, Lennon was one of the most famous people in the world. The last thing he needed was more attention. But taking advantage of the world media's obsession with him and his marriage to Yoko Ono, the couple decided to use their fame in a remarkable and controversial campaign for peace.

Integrating politics with his music, Lennon's activism, as one observer notes in our film, was "the conscious use of one's myth to project a political and social goal."

Lennon (working with his artist wife) developed messages that were easily understood — most memorably, "Give peace a chance" and "War is over! If you want it." Beyond any mere slogan, though, Lennon put himself out front through his art, continually offering the world unfiltered glimpses of the human being behind the ideas. Though some of the tactics marginalized Lennon — the press ridiculed him and Ono relentlessly for their "Bed-In" — nothing would deter him.

And when during the next few years the media attention Lennon could command was used in outspoken support for other radical causes, he nearly got thrown out of the United States.

To a certain extent, Lennon understood promoting his beliefs could get him in trouble, but he probably didn't anticipate the extent of the ensuing backlash from the press and the government. Some in the media even went so far as to say he was, in the words of one New York Times reporter seen in our film, "living in a `never, never land.'" But his efforts clearly had an impact, evident in the Nixon administration's harsh response.

Lennon's opposition to the Vietnam War and his association with "enemies of the state" took place during one of the most fractious periods of American history, one in which, as former U.S. Senator (and 1972 Democratic Presidential nominee) George McGovern noted, had the U.S. divided "as it had not been since the Civil War."

What made Lennon so dangerous? Perhaps the main reason this rock musician was seen as a threat to Nixon was that, prior to the 1972 election, the voting age had been lowered to 18. When word got out that Lennon was planning a concert tour to encourage voter participation (a "Vote For Change" style tour), as declassified government documents show, he became a real target of the administration. The Nixon administration feared millions of new young voters — millions of Beatles fans — might be swayed to vote against their man.

The FBI tapped Lennon's phone and had agents outside his apartment. Eventually, Senator Strom Thurmond suggested that Lennon needed to be neutralized, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service moved to revoke Lennon's visa and deport him.

These frightening and outrageous tactics might seem unbelievable, but in the U.S., during times of war, serious challenges to the constitution have often become part of American life. Which is why, even though The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a film about what happened 35 years ago, it feels like a movie about today.

Lennon is seen and heard talking about the responsibility we all have to effect change. He knew what it took to move any population or generation from apathy to activism, which is why his ideas, art and actions — not to mention what the White House did to him for expressing those ideas, and the battle he fought for what he believed in — become an ever more relevant story.

With images of war and violence bombarding us constantly — the recent conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the war in Iraq, genocide in Africa — it's a good time to talk about peace. But can anybody's voice rise above the clutter the way Lennon's did?

Mention "rock star" activism in 2006 and U2's Bono comes immediately to mind. Bono, who counts Lennon as a major influence, has used his celebrity to become a true statesman, doing tremendously important work on issues such as Third World poverty.

And yet there is something about Lennon that remains uniquely inspiring, perhaps explaining why the generations at advance screenings of The U.S. vs. John Lennon raised different, but ultimately similarly poignant questions. "Where is our John Lennon?" younger audiences wondered. "Where is John Lennon when we need him?" asked the baby boomers.

There is no doubt we need more persistent, powerful voices like his. But rather than remain in our safety zones as we wait for this generation's Lennon to emerge, we should heed his message — "War is over! If you want it" — and each embrace our own duty to engage. Lennon understood he could not do it alone, and his experience showed that standing by your convictions carries great risks. But if artists, politicians, and everyday people did it together, we could open an honest discussion of the issues that are defining our world today. And we could identify and embrace sacrifices that would allow us to create the future we desire.

So yes, it's time to talk about peace — and it's time to rock the boat.

Meanwhile, the Lennon that has inspired generations remains where he has always been — in the music. The measure of great art is its eternal meaning, and it is clear that Lennon's art remains relevant. We are still engaged by the musical dreamer, by his intelligence and charisma, and by the courage with which he used his art to espouse the cause of peace and fight the U.S. government.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/
ContentServer?pagename=thestar
/Layout/Article_Type1&
;c=Article&cid=115780081
2144&call_pageid=970599119419

McCartney Talks

2006-09-10T00:43:00.000-05:00

As his marriage crumbled, he maintained a dignified silence. Now, Sir Paul McCartney has finally broken cover to give his first interview since the break-up. He talks about music, love, life and death. Everything, in fact, except her. While he is full of praise for his late first wife Linda, he makes no reference at all to his soon to be ex-wife Heather Mills.

Sir Paul gave the interview last month, in which he talks about his latest album, a classical work called Ecce Cor Meum. He had been recording over the past few months, although the writing of the score had been ongoing for eight years. It began in 1997 and was interrupted by Linda's death from breast cancer in 1998.

"I started it and I had the whole thing going and I was on a fast track then suddenly Linda died and it just stopped me. And I had to take a year out just to grieve," he said in the interview to be broadcast by Classic FM on 24 September, the day before the album is released.

Sir Paul revealed how, even after four and a half decades in the music business, he has to relearn the process of writing when he begins each new project. "You make a great album, a successful album, and you come to make your next one and you think, 'well, I know how to do it now because we just made a great one', but you don't. Each time you come to it you relearn the whole thing. It's as if you forget it all. It's as if your memory goes blank."

Sir Paul, who was commissioned to create the new work by Oxford's Magdalen College, has previously written two classical works, Liverpool Oratorio and Standing Stone. He said it was producer Sir George Martin's string scores for the Beatles which had sown the ideas of classical composition in his mind.

"It was round about 'Eleanor Rigby' when I thought, 'What am I going to do when I'm 30?' I had this image of myself in a kind of tweed jacket with patches on the elbows and a pencil and manuscript paper and I thought, 'That's what I'll do. That's what I'll do when the Beatles runs out.'

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/
this_britain/article1433400.ece

Don't give Heather a penny, first husband tells McCartney

2006-09-09T00:22:00.000-05:00

Heather Mills does not deserve a penny out of her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney, her first husband has said.

Alfie Kamal told the Evening Standard he was not surprised the marriage had collapsed in acrimony. He had issued a "Buyer Beware" warning when the former Beatle began dating Ms Mills and his prediction of disaster had finally come true.

" We have both been Heathered," he said. "If there is anything I have in common with Sir Paul it's probably that."

Mr Kamal, whose marriage to Ms Mills ended when she left him for a ski instructor, added: "I'm not really surprised the marriage is over. Our marriage lasted just under two years - we had been together for five years off and on. But she ran off lots of times.

"It was a bit like the Runaway Bride. I used to think she had a permanent pair of sneakers on under her shoes. She always ran away. If you had an argument with her she would run away. When you caught her out lying she would run away.

"I don't know the details of why their marriage has broken down but from what I can make out they cannot bear to be in the same room together. That's how it goes with her. You get to a point where you start to hate her and hate the way she is."

Mr Kamal, a wealthy businessman, said Ms Mills, a former model, should not receive any money from Sir Paul, whose estimated fortune is £825million.

"I don't think anybody deserves to lose hundreds of millions of pounds," he said, "I don't agree with divorce laws. Somebody who has made a significant amount of money from his own talents should not have to pay out huge sums just because a couple were once married.

"It should all be based on contribution - what you take out, you should have put in. If she took out of the marriage what she put in she would walk out with minus a million bucks."

Mr Kamal wed Ms Mills, 10 years his junior, at All Saints Catholic Church in Harrow in 1989. But he says she walked out after falling for the ski instructor on holiday in Slovenia.

He added: "I got off quite cheap. That is because she had ulterior motives and wanted to run off with the ski instructor and just needed enough money to go and live with him."

During their marriage she had suffered two ectopic pregnancies, which had put their relationship under considerable strain.

Mr Kamal met Ms Mills when she was a teenager working in a café in London. He fell in love and after several break-ups they married and set up home in a five bedroom house with a pool in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Mr Kamal takes credit for encouraging Ms Mills to pursue a career in modelling. The businessman had two children from a previous marriage. She has said in the past that she was probably more in love with the children than with Mr Kamal.

Mr Kamal, 48, has another two children by his latest marriage and now lives happily in Vancouver, Canada.

When news of Sir Paul's divorce leaked, he was besieged with offers from newspapers to sell his story for up to £30,000. He spoke to the Standard today for nothing because he wanted to set the record straight but did not want to be seen to be profiting from his failed marriage.

Ms Mills has said their relationship fell apart after her first ectopic pregnancy and they started to row "over the silliest things".

When she quit the marital home it is alleged that she slammed the door so hard the

glass panel smashed. She drove off in a BMW convertible, then worth £20,000.

It is unclear why her marriage to Sir Paul, 64, has fallen apart but despite assurances the couple would keep it amicable for the sake of their daughter Beatrice, who turns three next month, the divorce has become increasingly acrimonious.

Sir Paul has hired Fiona Shackleton, the lawyer who represented Prince Charles in his divorce. Ms Mills, 38, has turned to Princess Diana's lawyer, Anthony Julius. Legal experts have suggested she could receive up to £200million in a divorce payout.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/
live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews
.html?in_article_id=40
4203&in_page_id=1773

Book review: The Gospel According to the Beatles

2006-09-09T00:18:00.000-05:00

When John Lennon proclaimed that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus" during a 1966 interview with London journalist Maureen Cleave, it didn't cause much of a stir in England. But once word of the interview spread across the Atlantic and reached a radio station in the Bible Belt city of Birmingham, Alabama, the comment – and the media feeding frenzy that ensued – spurred millions, young and old, fans and non-fans, to start looking at the Fab Four in a new light. Soon, the lads from Liverpool were more than just fun-loving mop tops. They were spiritual guides for a generation of young people looking for answers from outside the mainstream world and its institutions.

Forty years later, the Beatles are again the subject of a spiritual examination. This one comes in the form of a new book, The Gospel According to the Beatles (Westminster John Knox Press, $19.95). Written by veteran British rock journalist Steve Turner (A Man Called Cash, A Hard Day’s Write), the book addresses the spiritual backgrounds of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and analyzes their music in a religious context. Drawing on a broad array of resources – various books, newspaper and magazine articles, unpublished notes and letters – as well as 80 interviews the author conducted himself, Turner’s book is a comprehensive look at the band that helped to shape the spiritual and cultural outlook of an entire generation.

Turner uses Lennon’s “more popular than Jesus” comment as the beginning of his study, and describes it as the turning point for the band. The quote brought widespread attention and new scrutiny to the band. They were no longer a mere pop sensation, but four evangelists to Baby Boomers searching for meaning through music, popular culture and drugs.

The Beatles probably did more than any other cultural figure at the time to introduce Eastern religious practices such as transcendental meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism and the Hare Krishna movement to teenagers in the West. Through their actions, interviews and music, they also promoted the use of mind-expanding drugs and advocated a general sense of consciousness expansion to young people. After Paul McCartney told the press that he and other band members had used LSD – ironically, he was the last Beatle to try the hallucinogen and only did so after yielding to pressure – the band, especially George Harrison, began to advocate TM and other Eastern religious practices as ways to free one’s mind.

While the messages of their music and lifestyle promoted a sense of liberty among youth, they also led to tragedy. The Beatles became messiah figures to millions of young people – and to deranged killers like Charles Manson – who thought the songs on The Beatles (the “White Album”) were messages to him to lead a revolution that was to begin with the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders – and Mark David Chapman, a former Beatles fan-turned-fundamentalist Christian who shot and killed John Lennon in 1980.

On the cover of Turner’s book, Lennon is shown in the forefront. He also takes center stage in the text of the book. The default leader of the group, Lennon also saw himself as a messiah figure, once proclaiming himself to be Christ during an acid trip and famously comparing himself to Jesus in “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (“Christ, you know it ain’t easy” and “the way things are going, they’re gonna crucify me” were among that song’s lyrics). As Turner points out, Lennon’s Anglican upbringing was the most formally religious of the four, but Lennon was also the most openly hostile to organized Christianity. (Harrison, who was raised Catholic, was a close second.) McCartney, brought up in a working-class Catholic family, was taught to be skeptical of religious figures and remained the most pragmatic of the lot, while Starr is described as a happy-go-lucky agnostic who was willing to dabble in Eastern religions but never took it as far as Lennon or Harrison.

The Beatles began as pragmatic existentialists who lived for the day but ended up preaching a religion that called on their listeners, in the words of “I’m Only Sleeping,” to “turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.”

Many of the concepts embodied in their later music – concepts like love (“All You Need Is Love”), peace (“Give Peace a Chance”), hope and transcendence – were secularized versions of Christian doctrine. As Turner points out, however, the Beatles’ “gospel” is incompatible with Christianity. The Beatles turned the notion of “God is love” inside out, advocating instead a teaching that “love is God.” As they once sang, “Love is all you need.” In Turner’s words: “There was no need for God to become incarnate and then die in order to bring salvation; they were saying that we could access the love directly. Love was a pathway to the divinity within us.”

In his introduction, Turner writes that he hopes to convince readers that “the search for a meaningful spirituality was an important part of the Beatles’ motivation.” In my view, Turner has achieved his goal through a well researched, richly detailed, and interesting, entertaining and informative work.

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=31&idsub=113&id=5335&t=Book+review%3A+The+Gospel+According+to+the+Beatles

San Francisco Art Exchange Focuses on The Beatles With "The Long And Winding Road - The Life And Times Of John, Paul, George & Ringo"

2006-09-09T00:11:00.000-05:00

The Beatles, collectively and individually, are among the planet's most photographed and recognizable subjects. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr's incalculable impact on popular culture, revolutionizing of contemporary music and captivating personalities have made them endlessly fascinating -- on record, via the written word, and through the lenses of many of the greatest photographers of our time.

With "The Long And Winding Road - The Life And Times Of John, Paul, George & Ringo," San Francisco Art Exchange (SFAE) -- the world's leading "Gallery of the Popular Image" -- presents the Beatles' mythic journey through modern times with unprecedented scope. Spotlighting stellar photographic images of the Beatles before, during and after their '60s Beatlemania heyday, the show is larger, deeper, rarer AND more varied than anything previously assembled on the group. The exhibition kicks off with an opening gala on Saturday, September 16, 7-10PM and runs through the end of October.

Curated by SFAE in association with U.K.-based Raj Prem Fine Art Photography, "The Long And Winding Road" will feature over 100 original works by more than 20 internationally renowned photographers. Spanning the late '50s through the '70s (and beyond, in some cases), works on display will range from indelibly known iconic photographs of The Beatles to pictorials that have never before been exhibited -- or even seen outside the photographers' archives. "It's a rare honor to be in a position to introduce this visual tribute to the Beatles' legacy," said SFAE co-founder and CEO Theron Kabrich. "They defined a generation, and their lives and art continue to inspire us today. It's a thrill to share this with fans and collectors from around the world."

Chronologically, this "magical history tour" begins with the classic black & white photography of Astrid Kircherr and Jurgen Vollmer as they documented the band's formative years in Liverpool and Hamburg. The world-rocking British Invasion-come-Beatlemania years are captured to perfection through the spectacular images of highly collectible and influential photographers including Robert Freeman, Jim Marshall, Terry O'Neill and Jerry Schatzberg. The Beatles' psychedelic evolution is vividly represented by Michael Cooper's pioneering "Sgt. Pepper" photo sessions, and the Apple years are chronicled by GRAMMY-nominated photographer Ethan Russell and the late Iain MacMillan, whose image of the band crossing "Abbey Road" is one of the most famous -- and the most imitated -- of the 20th century.

"The Long And Winding Road" also takes viewers to the band's epochal concert at SF's Candlestick Park, to their Carnegie Hall engagement, to Rishikesh, India for their 1968 pilgrimage with the Maharishi and to the storied arena of the Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus. The exhibition continues along the timeline to spotlight images from John, Paul, George and Ringo's legendary solo careers as well as their personal lives, including classic shots of John and Yoko and Paul and Linda. Richly diverse in chronology, photographic style and artistic points of view, the show also features the work of celebrated British rock photographers Gered Mankowitz and David Redfern, American shooters including Bob Gruen and Henry Diltz, and inner circle figures including Pattie Boyd -- the first Mrs. George Harrison and now a renowned photographer -- fine art photographer/former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and May Pang, John Lennon's early '70s love.

As of this writing, "The Long And Winding Road" will include works by an illustrious list of photographers including Pattie Boyd, Michael Cooper, Henry Diltz, Robert Freeman, Barry Feinstein, Bob Gruen, Eric Hayes, Paul Horn, David Hurn, Astrid Kircherr, Iain Macmillan, Gered Mankowitz, Jim Marshall, Terry O'Neill, May Pang, David Redfern, Ethan Russell, Paul Saltzman, Jerry Schatzberg, Jurgen Vollmer and Bill Wyman. SFAE expects to announce additions to the show roster in the time leading up to the opening on September 16, and promises there will be surprises for Beatles fans, photo collectors and pop culture-philes alike when this most comprehensive-ever Fab Four photographic tribute is unveiled.

Co-founded in 1983 by Theron Kabrich and James Hartley, San Francisco Art Exchange, LLC -- "Gallery of the Popular Image" -- is a leader in international fine art sales and publishing, with a global reputation as premiere purveyors of world-class pop culture imagery including paintings, illustrations, photography and more. SFAE has long represented the art of Alberto Vargas, album cover artist Roger Dean, fantasy-genre master Boris Vallejo and many noted rock/celebrity photographers including Ethan Russell, Terry O'Neill, Pattie Boyd, Mick Rock, Jerrold Schatzberg, Joel Brodsky and many others. Most recently, they presented "Wyman Shoots," the world debut of photographs by Bill Wyman. SFAE is located at 458 Geary Street in San Francisco, CA.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/
release_html_b1?release_id=160641

Rod Stewart feels sorry for McCartney

2006-09-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

Rod Stewart says he feels sorry for Sir Paul McCartney.

The Scottish rocker insists he understands the heartache Paul has been battling following his split from wife, Heather Mills, and admits his divorce to model Rachel Hunter was a sad chapter in his life.

After being presented with the Outstanding Achievement award at last night's (05.09.06) GQ Awards, Rod said: "My lowest point was when Rachel left. That was a bolt of lightning. It was terrible.

"Look at Paul McCartney now. I feel so sorry for him. But I don't blame Rachel. My eldest daughter is six years older than Rachel was when we first met. But it was earth shattering when she went. I wasn't prepared for it at all. I grew up a lot after that."

The men's magazine awards, held at London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, saw Paul scoop the Man of the Year prize despite his acrimonious split from Heather.

After being presented with the Outstanding Achievement award at last night's (05.09.06) GQ Awards, Rod said: "My lowest point was when Rachel left. That was a bolt of lightning. It was terrible.

"Look at Paul McCartney now. I feel so sorry for him. But I don't blame Rachel. My eldest daughter is six years older than Rachel was when we first met. But it was earth shattering when she went. I wasn't prepared for it at all. I grew up a lot after that."

The men's magazine awards, held at London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, saw Paul scoop the Man of the Year prize despite his acrimonious split from Heather.

http://www.lse.co.uk/
ShowbizNews.asp?Code=SI6425
2R&headline=rod_stewart_

Beatles Secret Weapon In EMI Dispute

2006-09-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

The Beatles have a secret weapon that could be vital in their bid to sue record label EMI - a top secret document showing how the label distributes its income. The band have filed a GBP10.5 million ($19 million) lawsuit in Britain for alleged lost earnings and are planning to sue the company in the US courts also. The Beatles' legal team are believed to have access to a document that details how EMI and its sister companies distribute worldwide income between each other. The Inter-company matrix agreement (MEA) will reveal how the band's revenues are distributed and the profits are shared. It will play a vital part of The Beatles' case, as the legendary group claim a recent audit showed that EMI reneged on its deal to grant increased royalty rates in 1989. According to the band, EMI and Capitol falsely classified many copies of Beatles recordings as destroyed or damaged, before selling them in secret. The dispute around the audit relates to the period 1994 to 1999, a time that would have been particularly lucrative to both parties because it included the CD release of Greatest Hits albums 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 and the release of the three double Anthology albums. The Beatles and company Apple Corps are also now suing - in the US court - for the return of their master recordings. The record company will file its defence, providing there is no appeal, before the end of the year (06) in the US action, while the legal process in Britain has already begun, with an amended defence to be lodged on 3 November (06).

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/
article/beatles%20secret%20weap
on%20in%20emi%20dispute_1007562

Paul McCartney named GQ`s Man of the Year

2006-09-06T23:18:00.000-05:00

Former Beatle Paul McCartney was honored as GQ`s Man of the Year during the magazine`s annual ceremony in London.

The rock star could not attend the ceremony to accept the honor, so GQ Editor Dylan Jones sang the entertainer`s praises, the BBC reported Wednesday.

'Paul McCartney turned 64, produced one of his best albums in years, orchestrated the 90-minute Las Vegas Beatles spectacular, `Love,` finished a record-breaking tour of America, and this month releases his fourth full-length classical work, `Behold My Heart,`' Jones said.

'Plus, this year he has been embraced by the Great British public like no time before,' he added.

'Dr. Who' star Billie Piper took home the magazine`s female equivalent of the annual recognition, while U.S. pop star Justin Timberlake was recognized as 2006`s International Man of the Year.

Keane was named GQ`s Band of the Year, '28 Days Later' star Cillian Murphy was crowned top actor and British rock star-turned-crooner Rod Stewart received the Outstanding Achievement award.

http://people.monstersandcritics.com/
article_1198707.php/Paul_McCartney_
named_GQ%60s_%60Man
_of_the_Year%60

Exclusive: New The U.S. vs. John Lennon Clip

2006-09-06T23:11:00.000-05:00

Lionsgate documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, opening in New York and Los Angeles on Sept.15 before expanding wider on Sept. 29.

Before Iraq, before the Bush Administration, before the Dixie Chicks, Bruce Springsteen, and Pearl Jam... there was John Lennon, the celebrated musical artist who used his fame and his fortune to protest the Vietnam War and advocate for world peace. In the new Lionsgate documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, filmmakers David Leaf and John Scheinfeld trace Lennon's metamorphosis from lovable "Moptop" to anti-war activist to inspirational icon as they reveal the true story of how and why the U.S. government tried to silence him.

Scrupulously researched and vividly illustrated, the movie illuminates a little-known chapter of modern history, when a president and his administration used the machinery of government to wage a covert war against the world's most popular musician. Exploring an era roiled by many of the same issues confronting us today, the film delivers a tale that speaks powerfully to our own unsettled times.

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http://comingsoon.net/news/
movienews.php?id=16364

The Beachles

2006-09-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

Some guy mashed up The Beatles Sgt. Pepper and the Beach Boys Pet Sounds. Below you can click on the song to hear it.

01. Wouldn’t Sgt. Petsound Be Nice? 02. You Still Believe in My Friends 03. That’s Not Lucy 04. Don’t Talk (Get Better) 05. I’m Fixing It, Dayhole 06. She’s Going Away for Awhile 07. Being for the Benefit of Sloop John B! 08. God Only Knows What I’d Be Within You 09. I Know There’re Sixty-Four Answers 10. Today, Rita 11. I Just Wasn’t Made for Good Mornings 12. Sgt. Petsound’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprieve) 13. A Day in the Life of Caroline 14. Runout Groove

http://claytoncounts.com/blog/the-beachles

McCartney Takes Up Yoga

2006-09-05T22:56:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney is so stressed about his legal battle with estranged wife Heather Mills McCartney, he has taken up yoga to help him through his difficult divorce.

The former Beatle, 64, has been taking private lessons in The Hamptons in New York with the same master who teaches actor Alec Baldwin.

The star has become so hooked on the rejuvenating exercise, he is attending classes three times a week to keep his mind, body and spirit in shape.

A friend says, "Paul is a very fit and active guy who likes to stay in shape and has been doing a bit of yoga to help his emotional and physical wellbeing.

"The last few months have been incredibly difficult and he is aware of the need to look after himself. He finds yoga the perfect way to help him unwind and relax."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=
7&entry_id=8564

John Lennon shines on in new documentary

2006-09-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

We live, as the pundits say, in the United States of Amnesia. Even so, did the makers of "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," an inquiry into our government's bizarre attempt to neutralize the perceived political juice of that famed English singer-songwriter, really need to spend half the movie explaining the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement to viewers? If things are really that bad, then perhaps the filmmakers should explain who John Lennon is. After all, the Beatles date back over 40 years.

For those who do remember or are aware of the zeitgeist of the counterculture, this lengthy regurgitation of well-known history mars an otherwise interesting probe into a strange sidebar of the Nixon administration's attempt to suppress those who publicly challenged its failed military and political strategies in Vietnam. For those who do need to be brought up to speed, writer-producer-directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld throw in too many subjects -- from the rise of the Black Panthers to Watergate -- without sufficient sociopolitical context. A newcomer would indeed get lost.

The guts of the matter, the administration's failed effort to deport Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono -- presumably in the delusional belief that one of the world's most famous individuals would go unnoticed if returned to his native soil -- is fascinating. Especially so in light of our current administration's fetish for spying on Americans without warrants and attempts to silence critics by questioning their patriotism or intestinal fortitude.

The movie starts with a now somewhat obscure figure, John Sinclair, a poet and band manager whose lengthy incarceration in Michigan on marijuana charges triggered a 12-hour concert in December 1971, broadcast throughout the U.S. Lennon appeared along with many other musical acts. The Michigan Supreme Court released Sinclair three days later. This, according the movie's talking heads, alerted the Nixon White House to Lennon's sway over young people, who were now able to vote thanks to the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

So the administration hatched the idea of getting Lennon deported on trumped-up charges. The deportation case dragged on for several years. During this time, various government agencies made certain the couple were aware they were being followed and their phones tapped. Little wonder that Ono, in an interview, insists that the pair thought if they went to the 1972 Republican Convention in Miami, they would be "in danger of their lives." She offers no proof of this, however.

A couple of ex-FBI agents agree that the agency under J. Edgar Hoover became a political police force to disrupt and harm those who opposed the war. It falls to the most infamous Nixon official, G. Gordon Liddy, one of the least self-aware individuals ever in political life, to make an even stronger case against the government through his bellicose and belligerent statements against Lennon and the anti-war movement.

Other talking heads include journalists Walter Cronkite and Carl Bernstein, anti-war activist Ron Kovic, novelist Gore Vidal and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern.

The thing that shines through most clearly, though, is Lennon himself. His widow allowed unprecedented access to the family archives, which along with ample newsreel footage bring us his presence once again. His larkish sense of humor and quick, native intelligence is a breath of fresh air in this age of shrill, strident voices from all segments of the political spectrum. He is dearly missed.

Writer-director-producers: David Leaf, John Scheinfeld; Executive producers: Sandra Stern, Kevin Beggs, Tom Ortenberg, Tim Palen, Nick Meyer, Erik Nelson, Michael Hirschorn, Brad Abramson, Lauren Lazin; Director of photography: James Mathers; Editor: Peter S. Lynch II.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/content/article/2006
/09/04/AR2006090400531.html

Yoko Ono on John Lennon and the FBI

2006-09-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

John Lennon's perceived "threat" to the U.S. government is the highlight of a new film that documents his transformation from pop idol to political activist and offers a fresh look at this former Beatle's career.

"The U.S. vs. John Lennon" will be released later this month. Yoko Ono cooperated with the filmmakers, opening her archives of rarely seen footage of the couple's fight for peace.

"One thing that brought us together was the fact that both of us were rebels in so many ways," she said.

And that's something he didn't always share with his bandmates, who were reluctant to join Lennon as he spoke out against the Vietnam War, said Ono.

"He is the only one who really wanted to do something about it when he was a Beatle," Ono explained.

Star Watched by the FBI

Lennon's rebelliousness may have come at a price. In the 1970s, Lennon was convinced that government agents were watching him. As it turns out, he was right.

Almost 20 years after his death, the government released the FBI file on Lennon, which included nearly 300 pages of text. One document that went from the FBI to the CIA reports that Lennon planned to take part in a protest at the 1972 Republican National Convention.

South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond seized on that, suggesting to President Nixon's attorney general that Lennon's visa be terminated.

A few weeks later, Lennon was given 30 days to leave the country and was notified that his visa had been terminated because of an old drug arrest in England.

"I think that the world really loved the Beatles for being charming and sweet," Ono said. "But some people did resent the fact that they were no more the sweet, nice, charming boys."

Ono and Lennon did not want to leave the United States, and a legal battle ensued.

In 1976, after the end of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, Lennon won.

The judge in the case wrote that the British singer's battle to stay in the United States was a "testimony to his faith in the American dream."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/
WNT/story?id=2396859

Rare and controversial Beatles display in Baker Street

2006-09-05T22:36:00.000-05:00

A new exhibition of rare and controversial Beatles memorabilia is on display in Baker Street.

Artwork by Paul McCartney, film posters and autographed items have all been added to the display at The Beatles Store.

John Lennon's own copy of a limited edition Yesterday and Today album is also on show. The contentious album cover features the fab four in butchers' outfits holding cuts of raw meat and the body parts of toy dolls.

Following its release in 1966, the album cover was quickly recalled and changed by the Beatles' record company. There are now very few copies remaining.

Museum director Howard Cohen said: "We have received a number of rare items for the new show, and it's already proving popular. People are coming from all over the world.

"It also ties in with the International Beatles Week Festival which is going on at the moment."

http://woodandvale.london24.net/
woodandvale/news/story.aspx?brand
=NorthLondon24&category=Newswooda
ndvale&tBrand=northlond
on24&tCategory=newswoodandvale&
itemid=WeED01%20Sep%202006%
2016%3A37%3A59%3A650

McCartney's Tribute To Linda

2006-09-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney is paying tribute to his late wife Linda McCartney with the October (06) release of his classical opus Ecce Cor Meum. The former Beatle has spent eight years perfecting the composition, and the Latin title translates as Behold My Heart.

Ecce Cor Meum is almost an hour long and will be released through EMI Classics.EMI spokesman Thomas Kaurich says, "There's already a large platform of fans who know and have enjoyed Paul's classical works. These pieces have taken his wonderful talents for lyricism into the classical arena.

"The release of any work like this is going to be an event in itself, as early press interest in Ecce Cor Meum shows." The score will be released on 25 October (06).

http://www.pr-inside.com/mccartneys
-tribute-to-linda-r17437.htm

Sir Paul McCartney's daughter crisis talks

2006-09-04T15:16:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills have met for crisis talks about their daughter.

The estranged couple spent 40 minutes alone last Wednesday (30.08.06) as they tried to quell the animosity between them.

Paul invited Heather inside his East Hampton house, in New York, when she came to pick up daughter Beatrice - who will be three next month.

It is understood the former Beatle arranged the meeting because their hostile relationship has been distressing their daughter, who has apparently been having tantrums.

A source told Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper: "Paul and Heather have been doing their best to avoid each other for months. But they have decided to put their differences aside for the sake of their daughter Beatrice.

"Both Heather and Paul have realised that there is more to life than their personal battles. Their main concern has to be Bea, who adores both her mum and dad. She is their pride and joy.

"Maybe this will be the beginning of the end of the war between them."

Sir Paul and Heather split in May after almost four years of marriage.

Their separation, which was initially amicable, turned nasty when Heather was accused of being a high-class prostitute - claims which she vehemently denies - and photographs of Heather posing naked in a German sex book were published.

The warring couple have hired the divorce lawyers who acted for Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

http://www.lse.co.uk/
ShowbizNews.asp?Code=US44177P&
headline=sir_paul_mccartneys
_daughter_crisis_talks

Current events spurred John Lennon documentary to gain steam

2006-09-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

The director of the upcoming documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, says that current events mirroring the U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam helped the project gain steam. The film chronicles Lennon's four-year battle to remain in America during the height of the Nixon administration.

David Leaf, one of the film's directors, told The Hollywood Reporter that "it really wasn't until the post-9/11 world that we started to get traction, particularly in the wake of the invasion of Iraq when people at the studios and the networks started to feel that this story about something that happened a long time ago might have some contemporary relevance and resonance."

Leaf, who wrote, produced and directed the film with partner John Scheinfeld, told us that Lennon's music almost serves as one of the film's narrators: "One of the things that so remarkable to me about John's music in this movie, is that it sounds as if these songs were written specifically for the film. The music advances the story, it tells us what John was feeling, and when we're looking at events that John wasn't part of, the music allows John to comment on them. So, it really is a gift that we've got almost 40 John Lennon songs in this movie."

The U.S. vs. John Lennon opens in New York and Los Angeles on September 15th, followed by a wider release at the end of September.

The film's soundtrack, which will be released in September 26th, includes such Lennon solo classics such as "Give Peace A Chance," "Imagine," "Power To The People," "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," "Nobody Told Me," "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," along with rarer album cuts such as "New York City," "Working Class Hero," "Attica State," "Here We Go Again," "How Do You Sleep?," and "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama."

http://www.therockradio.com/2006/
09/current-events-
spurred-john-lennon.html

Lennon cast as anti-war hero in new documentary

2006-09-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

U.S. conservatives were outraged when country music band the Dixie Chicks criticized President George W. Bush.

But a new documentary about John Lennon and his run-in with the Nixon administration over the Vietnam war suggests Bush got off lightly.

David Leaf's "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," screened at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week, uses footage not seen before and news clips aired for the first time in decades.

Lennon's widow Yoko Ono allowed Leaf and co-director John Scheinfeld to use her library of images and the former Beatle's music in a 100-minute documentary that portrays a turbulent United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

It opens with Lennon seeking to soothe U.S. opposition to his comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.

He is shown staging his famous honeymoon "bed-ins" for peace, addressing huge rallies, performing a concert for a jailed friend, criticizing Nixon in interviews and funding an international advertising campaign called "War is Over!."

By comparison, the Dixie Chicks are synonymous with the protest movement today because the lead singer said in London in 2003 that she was "ashamed" of Bush. "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing," a film about the backlash to the remarks, has been made.

Leaf said his documentary was relevant today, with the debate raging over the invasion of Iraq and what some see is the erosion of civil liberties in the United States.

"The film itself isn't designed to comment on the world today," Leaf told a news conference. "However, there is no way to watch the film without hearing the echoes in the past of what's going on in the world."

LONG TIME COMING

Leaf said the film only won financial backing and the support of Ono following the events of September 11, 2001.

"It took the events in a post-9/11 America to give people a sense that this was not just a story rooted in the past but had a contemporary resonance and needed to be told."

Dramatic newsreel from the United States and Vietnam is mixed with Lennon footage and interviews with commentators and politicians of the day in a film that paints Lennon as an anti-war hero and the victim of a vindictive government.

Leaf conceded it had been difficult to find former members of Nixon's government or people supportive of the Vietnam war, although he defended the film as balanced.

"It was a challenge to get anybody who was on the right side of the political spectrum. G. Gordon Liddy (a Nixon advisor who was jailed for his part in Watergate) was just about the only one from the Nixon administration from that era who would."

In the opposite corner are an array of established liberal figures including Gore Vidal, who at one point says: "Mr. Nixon and President Bush represent death, and that is a bad thing."

The final part of the documentary deals with Lennon's long legal battle against deportation, which he finally won in 1976.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon is due for release in the United States in September.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/content/article/2006/
09/01/AR2006090100172.html

The man who turned on the Beatles finally revealed

2006-09-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

The dentist who introduced John Lennon and George Harrison to LSD in 1965 has always been an anonymous figure. In the Beatles Anthology time George referred to him only as "the wicked dentist." Now a book has been published that reveals the identity of the man who unwittingly helped to turn on the world.

In The Gospel According to the Beatles, author Steve Turner reveals that the dentist was John Riley who had a practice on Harley Street and lived in a ground floor apartment in Strathearn Place near Bayswater Road. It was in this apartment that Riley slipped the hallucinogenic drug into the boys' coffees after a meal. They would never be the same again.

London born Riley, the son of a policeman, had trained in America and was a pioneer of cosmetic dentistry in Britain. He was a particular favourite of actors, models and rock stars and through his glittering clientele gained an entre to Swinging London. He supplied the teeth for Roman Polanski's film The Fearless Vampire Killers and even managed to get a fleeting role in The Texicans alongside Audie Murphy.

Riley was killed in a car accident in 1986 but Turner managed to interview two of his ex-wives. He also spoke to Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Harrison, both of whom were victims of the original trip.

"When you go for dinner with your dentist you don't imagine a professional man would do something like that," Cynthia told him. "He could easily have killed us."

http://www.whatgoeson.com/
story.200608311.html

The Beatles Sue Record Label Giants

2006-08-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr plus the families of John Lennon and George Harrison allege that the companies fraudulently “pocketed millions of dollars” from the band between 1994 and 1999.

The lawsuit was launched back in December and claims that the labels falsely classified some copies of Beatles albums as faulty, but went on to sell them.

EMI requested for the case to be thrown out of the New York State Supreme Court last week, but this was rejected.

The surviving Beatles members plus their estates are seeking the minimum of $25million in damages.

Elsewhere in the lawsuit, the band claim that the labels wrongly counted the number of albums sold and labelled some albums destined for the shelves as promotional copies.

EMI and Capitol have refuted the claims saying that there was enough details of the allegations to warrant any action.

It’s not the first time The Beatles have had a run-in with EMI and Capitol. In 1979 the band claimed that they had been underpaid $20million.

This was eventually settled a decade later when the band were given higher royalty rates.

http://www.gigwise.com/
news.asp?contentid=21649

Ringo Starr's Wife Hospitalised By Her Horse

2006-08-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

The former Bond girl was admitted to the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford on Sunday morning after being kicked by her horse.

A spokesman for the hospital confirmed that she had fractured her right leg and that she had undergone surgery which had gone “very well”.

He added: "She had a stable and peaceful night and everything is going well with her recovery.”

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/
news?id=21533

'Lennon' documentary could score Oscar nomination

2006-08-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

Although we tend to think of entertainers protesting a war as being a contemporary phenomenon linked to the Bush administration and Iraq, like so many other things, it's really just history repeating itself.

For those who have forgotten or, perhaps, are too young to remember John Lennon's passionate opposition to America's entanglement in Vietnam in the 1960s and '70s, Lionsgate's documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" will come as a valuable revelation. "Lennon," which is being screened at film festivals in Toronto, Venice, Telluride and elsewhere, opens Sept. 15 in New York and Los Angeles and expands Sept. 29.

Watching it recently left me thinking that "Lennon" could score a nomination in Oscar's best documentary feature category. It's a film that's likely to resonate with older Academy members, who lived through America's tragic involvement in the Vietnam War, as well as younger Academy members, who will view it in the context of today's tragic U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq.

Written, directed and produced by David Leaf & John Scheinfeld, it was executive produced by Sandra Stern, Kevin Beggs, Tom Ortenberg, Sarah Greenberg, Tim Palen, Nick Meyer. Steve Rothenberg, Erik Nelson, Michael Hirschorn, Brad Abramson and Lauren Lazin. The film stars John Lennon and Yoko Ono and features appearances by Carl Bernstein, Noam Chomsky, Walter Cronkite, Mario Cuomo, Angela Davis, John Dean, Ron Kovic, G. Gordon Liddy, George McGovern, Bobby Seale, Tommy Smothers and Gore Vidal. It's a who's who of people who were boldface names when the U.S. government was trying to silence criticism by Lennon and Ono by deporting them. Through their comments Leaf and Scheinfeld remind us of what that period of socio-political upheaval was like and what a key role Lennon and Ono played as critics of the war.

"Lennon's" the kind of film you simply have to talk about after you've seen it, so I was happy to be able to do just that recently with Leaf and Scheinfeld and to ask them how they managed to get it made.

"John and I have wanted to tell this story for a long time, going back to the 1990s," Leaf explained. "It really wasn't until the post-9/11 world that we started to get traction, particularly in the wake of the invasion of Iraq when people at the studios and the networks started to feel that this story about something that happened a long time ago might have some contemporary relevance and resonance."

"In terms of footage," Scheinfeld added, "David and I really consider ourselves when we do these shows to be really detectives in a way, searching for the best audio-visual material. We've developed a lot of sources over the years, both domestically and internationally and we just literally scour the world looking for the best material to put in. We also preferred to use material that hasn't been seen in 10 other documentaries that have been done on John Lennon and The Beatles. So we really set as a goal for ourselves to try to find as much footage as possible that hasn't been seen before or has rarely been seen before."

"Just to give credit where credit is due," Leaf said. "John is the Hercule Poirot of the team. He is a tireless detective and does not take no for an answer. As an example, in the film you saw the footage of the day John got his green card (enabling him to remain in the U.S.). I'll let John speak to it because he's the one who did not give up."

"We'd been told for months and months and months that the footage either did not exist or had been destroyed many, many years ago," Scheinfeld pointed out. "We just kept at it. About three weeks to go before we finished the movie the footage was finally discovered in the wrong box, mislabeled in the wrong part of the news archives. But they found it and we transferred it and, as you saw in the film, it really helps accentuate what was a very critical moment in our story."

"One of the things that's interesting to me," Leaf said, "is you look closely at Yoko and it appears like she's choked up. This is a very emotional moment. We kind of take it for granted that it happened, but when you see it actually (taking place) you realize that this was a serious thing that was happening."

"And the other thing that I think probably helps define our style as filmmakers," Scheinfeld told me, "is to show don't tell. We'd heard the quote that John had given to the press that day when he was asked, 'Do you hold any grudge against (then U.S. Attorney General) John Mitchell and other people for doing this to you?' But (it was) much better to have him say it himself (in the footage that was finally unearthed)."

How do they look for footage that they don't necessarily know exists? "I think because of our history both as documentary filmmakers and our personal history as somewhat inveterate collectors," Leaf said, "we are plugged into a network of people around the world who literally have rescued these treasures through the decades as they've been discarded or displaced or dismissed from official vaults. A lot of stuff that's out there is in the hands of private collectors. So, essentially, it's sending out an SOS (that finds footage)."

"The other half of the equation," Scheinfeld added, "is we will just sort of outreach to archives all over the world where we have connections and say, 'We're looking for footage that has John Lennon and Yoko Ono in it between these years.' And we see what comes back. Oftentimes there will be some on-the-street press conference kind of footage. We wouldn't have known to specifically ask for it, but it came back to us on a whole reel -- 'Here's press conference footage' -- and then we could pick out of that what suited our storytelling."

Lennon, he continued, "has occasionally been called the most photographed man of the twentieth century. Now that could be a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. There's a lot of material available on him out there so we had quite a bit to look at. We probably went through more than a hundred hours worth of material searching for just the best moments for us."

The government's ongoing efforts at the time to deport Lennon (and Ono, too) is something that not everyone still remembers. "It's an episode in John's life that essentially came to define everything that happened to him after The Beatles," Scheinfeld observed. "We sort of took the point of view that people walking into the theater to see this movie, particularly if they're under 40, really don't know much about John Lennon. They know he was in The Beatles. They know he wrote 'Imagine.' And they know he was killed (in New York Dec. 8, 1980). Beyond that, there's not a lot of context to their knowledge of who John Lennon was and why he mattered. And to us this is the movie to watch if you want to know why John Lennon mattered during his life and why he matters afterwards.

"He was willing to speak to power, to stand up to power, in a way that we'd never seen a pop personality do before. It may be that his greatest work of art was his campaign for peace in terms of his post-Beatles career. He spent years and years using his fame and fortune to actually try to make the world a better place. I don't think it had ever happened before. We live in a time where everything's a reality show. John and Yoko were essentially pioneers in that, but they weren't using it to promote an album. They weren't using it to promote a movie. They weren't doing it to promote anything except peace and that's what makes them heroic artists here. And then to have the courage to stand up to the power of the United States -- the presidency, the White House, the FBI and the INS -- (shows they were) courageous artists and courageous people."

It was a little known story at the time, Scheinfeld said, and "in fact, it was really about four years after it started that the press got the first wind of what the government had been trying to do to Lennon. Some information has sort of crept out over the years. Professor (of history at the University of California, Irvine) Jon Weiner has written a book ('Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files') in which he publishes a number of the FBI documents which came out under the Freedom of Information Act and really through his good efforts a lot of what the government did is now known. But at the time it was a not a well known story.

"We're gigantic Beatles fans so we had sort of come across this story, but didn't really know a lot of the details and that's what originally got us interested back in the '90s. And the more we looked into it, the more compelling a story it became for us. We started production just a little over a year ago in July of 2005, although knowing that we were going to be doing this at some point about three months earlier (we shot some footage unofficially)."

"This is a story we've long wanted to tell," Leaf added. "I came of age with The Beatles. I was at school in D.C. during the Nixon administration. So to me this was always a fascinating story. And when you can find unknown stories about people that you think you know everything about, it's really exciting. We had kind of put our archival world on alert, if you will, that we expected to be making this movie. We probably did that about two years ago or so. Not telling them what the subject was, but just that it looked like we'd be doing a movie on John Lennon. The reason we were doing it then was that we had done what was one of the key steps in making this movie a success -- we'd gone to Yoko Ono and asked her to participate."

How did they get Ono to say yes? "We just asked," he replied. "We said, 'We think this is an important story that needs to be told.' We explained how we wanted to tell it. Her attorney's initial reaction was, 'Well, this story's in the public domain. Why do you need us?' (We said in order) 'to tell this story right and to make it the kind of movie we want it to be, we need three things. One, we need Yoko to sit for essentially exhaustive interviews. We need her to speak retrospectively for her and John and also to immerse us in the emotion of it as it was happening. We need John Lennon's music.' And we needed access to the Lennon-Ono archives because a lot of the footage that's never been seen before that's in the movie comes from John and Yoko's private collection."

"And so we knew that these were essentially storytelling elements," Scheinfeld added. "And if we were going to tell the story, we're going to do it right is our feeling or we're not going to do it."

Asked if Ono needed a lot of coaxing to get her to participate in the film, he replied, "David worked really hard to persuade her to do it. As you can imagine, she gets asked to do a lot of things by a lot of people. She's also a little bit wary, I think, and rightly so because she routinely gets blasted by the media for this or for that. So I think there's always an element of wariness. But David was the one who had gone to New York and worked really hard speaking with both the attorney and with Yoko to gain their trust and ultimately he did. And then as a partnership, as we've been working with her over the last 12 months, we've really gained her trust as she saw that we delivered the movie that we said we would. And that's been great. I think with anybody like that there's an element of persuasion that is necessary."

"We have something of a track record," Leaf noted, "of working with artists and/or their estates to create film retrospectives that tell stories in a way that bring an audience to an artist that might not have come to that artist. John's just written and directed a film about Harry Nilsson that's playing (soon) at the Mods and Rockers Film Festival. I did a film for Showtime two years ago on Brian Wilson and the lost 'SMiLE' album. We've done programs on Sinatra, Bette Midler, Jonathan Winters and The Marx Brothers. And in each one of these we tried to do two things. One was to make a film that we wanted to see. And, two, in a sense to bring an audience to things that we have passion for. To say, 'This is important to us and here's why it should be important to you.'"

"I think the other thing that distinguishes our work from our standpoint," Scheinfeld said, "is that we're storytellers. We're not just guys that go out and collect footage and slap it together and hopefully it works. We both come from the world of primetime television and know how to tell a story in a dramatic way. I think you see that in most of the productions we've done -- which is that it's storytelling. It isn't just, 'Okay in 1967 this happened and in 1970 that happened.' It's the way you lay it out."

Aside from getting Ono on board, what were the biggest challenges they faced in making "Lennon?" "I think from a storytelling point of view it was getting the right -- and this is a strange word to use for a documentary -- cast, the right on-camera witnesses to tell the story," Scheinfeld replied. "We were determined to have people in this film speaking with immense credibility, whether they were part of the Nixon administration or the radical left. Whether they were, perhaps, the greatest broadcast journalist of his time (like) Walter Cronkite or the greatest American historian ever like Gore Vidal. These are people who when they speak speak with immense context and credibility. So one of the key challenges was getting the right people to speak on camera.

"The real challenge, I think, for us as filmmakers was making sure that the film remained focused on story. There were a lot of side trips and cul de sacs that spin out of 'The U.S. vs. John Lennon' that as we got further and further into editing we just tossed out because they were taking us away from the story and so very much like a dramatic scripted film the challenge was to tell the story in a way that felt inevitable, that felt completely seamless so that when you reached the end of the movie the only way it could have ended and it all made sense and the audience feels they've gone on a journey with you in the way that all great films do."

"I think the other challenge goes back to what we were discussing before," Leaf told me, "with regard to finding material. It's one thing to sort of find generic John Lennon and/or Yoko Ono material. It was a whole other thing to find footage that really supported the story we were telling or that would have a unique resonance to the story we are telling. And we were able to do that. There's a reason why every piece of footage is in there and it does relate to the story we're telling."

"Another thing that was a challenge for us," Scheinfeld said, "was how do you score a movie about one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century? David and I wanted every piece of music in this film to be by John Lennon and we wanted the music to advance the story or give us some insight into what he might have been thinking or feeling at a time. That's why when in the film you hear clips from his songs, the lyrics are doing exactly that. They're moving the story forward or telling us what he was thinking or feeling at a particular moment. But then, how do you support those dramatic or humorous or poignant moments where you would normally bring in a composer? Again, because she came to trust us, what Yoko allowed us to do was to have 24 some tracks of John Lennon's solo work remixed to take out the vocals, leaving all the underlying music there. So in moments of the film where you're just hearing dramatic music, that is John Lennon music. So everything in the film is his."

"There's one Yoko song in there," Scheinfeld pointed out.

"That's right," Leaf agreed. "So we were really delighted to be able to do that and we think creatively it served our purposes and I think the film benefits from it. And I do want to acknowledge our editor, Peter Lynch, because he is a great filmmaker, too. He's got a great visual sense, but he also has a real gift for how to use music in movies. And because music is so instrumental in our documentaries we can't do it without him." Among Lynch's credits are editing "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of SMiLE" in 2004 and editing and co-producing "Who is Harry Nilsson...And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him" in 2005.

In its theatrical release "Lennon" is a fast-moving 99 minutes. Looking down the road to its DVD release, I asked if there will be more content available? "Absolutely," Scheinfeld replied. "Actually, we're just finishing the bonus material. We could do the history of the 1960s from some of the interviews we got with people like (political activist) Noam Chomsky and Gore Vidal, but for the DVD we've narrowed it down to a half-dozen really interesting featurettes, if you will -- story threads that didn't make the movie."

"It's a little early to talk about the DVD," Leaf observed. "We're focused on how people are responding to the movie, itself. I buy DVDs and more often than not I watch the movie and not the bonus material. I know there's a lot of people who look forward to that, but if the movie isn't great I'm not buying the DVD for the bonus material."

With Lionsgate's solid track record when it comes to theatrical marketing, "Lennon" is in good hands as its release approaches. The film came to Lionsgate, Leaf explained, when "we sat down with our agent, Bruce Kaufman over at Broder (Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann, which was acquired by ICM in late July), and we made a list of where we thought this film belonged. And Lionsgate was right at the top of the list. Their interest was instantaneous."

"We're very independent guys," Scheinfeld added, "and that's always been our approach to work and the working environment. We had said to Bruce that we would more comfortable in a real independent type studio. So that's why Lionsgate was really at the top of the list. And really from the very first conversation they seemed to get what we were trying to accomplish here and they've really been extraordinarily supportive all the way through."

Focusing on documentaries as a genre, Leaf pointed out, "I would (mention) one thing that I think distinguishes documentaries from dramatic films. In a dramatic film the producer, the director and the actors are all working from a script. The scenes are there and then when the film goes into editing it follows the script. They move things around, but mostly it follows the script. We're sort of the opposite in a documentary. We gather all the material, all the interviews and then we assemble it much like a jigsaw puzzle. The difference being that the jigsaw puzzle you probably got from your folks when you were a kid only fits together one way. What we do could fit together 20 ways or 50 ways or 100 ways. So when we talk about us being storytellers, it's whatever gift we have that enables us to put those pieces together in a way that someone will say, 'Hey, work for me.' And that's something that's important to us."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/
columns/grove_display.j
sp?vnu_content_id=1003054830

The Beatles Top Album Poll

2006-08-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been voted the best number one album of all time by the British public.

The seminal record, released in 1967, topped the poll to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UK album chart.

The Beatles had a total of four albums in the top 10, with Revolver at six, Abbey Road at eight and The Beatles - also known as The White Album - at 10.

Michael Jackson's Thriller came second and U2's The Joshua Tree third.

The rest of the places were taken by a string of mid-70s records. Fourth was Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and fifth was Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.

Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water came in seventh, and Queen's A Night At The Opera came ninth.

The most recent release to make it into the top 100 was Madonna's Confessions On A Dancefloor, at Number 37, which charted in November last year.

Over 220,000 people voted in the poll through websites

http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/
viewstory.aspx?storyid=
333902&catid=3008

“Tomorrow Never Knows: The Beatles Last Concert.”

2006-08-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

Now back in print after 15 years, this is the definitive account of the Beatles concert in San Francisco on August 29, 1966. Written by Eric Lefcowitz, it features 60 of Marshall's celebrated photographs including images of the Beatles backstage and performing onstage for the last time.
In 1986, I approached Jim Marshall about putting together a book based on his photographs of the Beatles’ last concert on August 29, 1966.

Background on the Book

This was the last public concert the Beatles ever gave in front of a paying audience and Marshall had full backstage and onstage access to shoot—the kind of access that is rarely given to photographers anymore. He made the most of his time with the group.

It was the “last hard day’s night” as Marshall put it. What he documented on 8/29/66 was the culmination of a joy-producing, life-affirming, groundbreaking musical movement known as Beatlemania.

Sixty of Marshall’s images appear in “Tomorrow Never Knows”—images that testify to his genius for capturing spontaneous moments and candid nuances. Thumbing through the proof sheets of that historic night, you see the four Beatles relaxing, smiling, posing for photographs and finally performing. Together they provide a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Fab Four.

To round off my research for the book I also conducted interviews with Joan Baez and her sister Mimi Fariña, who were invited guests, Vern Miller who played in the warm up band the Remains, soundman Mort Feld and several other witnesses to the event. I also received permission to republish several fascinating articles by noted journalist Ralph J. Gleason.

I am pleased that these beautiful images are back in print. Like the Beatles, the artistry of Jim Marshall’s photography never goes out of style.

http://www.beatleslast.com/

Forty years ago today, Beatles played final concert at Candlestick

2006-08-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

What occurred at Candlestick Park exactly 40 years ago — on Aug. 29, 1966 — had nothing to do with Willie Mays or the San Francisco Giants.
Rather, it was the occasion of the final full-length concert performed by the Beatles as the band concluded its last tour — a 14-city tour of America.

It was essentially the end of the "Beatlemania" that had begun when the group first came to America in February of 1964 and continued for the next 21/2 years.

John, Paul, George and Ringo had grown tired of their image as teen idol "moptops." By mid-1966, the gap between them as live, on-stage performers and as more sophisticated composers and studio artists had grown far too wide for their liking. The novelty had worn off. Fans would scream hysterically regardless of how well they played, and they had become virtual prisoners of their hotel rooms while on tour.

Having played their next-to-last concert the night before at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Liverpool lads had only one more obligation to perform live as they flew north to the Bay Area.

It was a full moon on that Monday night in late August, and not surprisingly, cold and windy. The Beatles arrived at Candlestick in an armored car amid heavy security that numbered 200 strong. Inside, the park was only slightly more than half-full, with nearly 25,000 fans who had paid between $3.80 and $7 for a ticket. Not everyone on the premises, however, was thrilled with theBeatles' appearance.

More than a dozen protesters marched outside the park carrying signs that were aimed at the Beatles and comments that had been made recently by John Lennon. The outspoken Lennon had told an interviewer months earlier that Christianity was on the decline and that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.

None of that seemed to matter to the fans inside.

The show began at 8 p.m., and the crowd greeted opening acts the Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn Down Day"), the Remains and the Ronettes, led by Ronnie Spector, wife of Phil Spector.

Finally, in the face of the hysteria and pandemonium that had become all too familiar, the Fab Four took the stage at 9:27 p.m. Located just behind second base on the field, the stage was 5 feet high and surrounded by a 6-foot high wire fence. The band kicked off their set with "She's a Woman" as the enthusiasm reached a fever pitch. As the San Mateo Times reported the following day, the Beatles "... sang and strummed while their fans shrieked, cried and groaned, wept, yelled, shouted, and did everything but listen."

Throughout the concert, about a half-dozen young fans rushed onto the field in an attempt to get to the stage. Security set about tackling them one by one to avoid further incident.

Realizing the significance of the event, Lennon had brought a camera on stage, and between songs, both he and McCartney took photos of members of the band.

The group performed a total of only 10 songs, which included popular hits such as "Day Tripper" and "Yesterday." They concluded the show with Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," climbed back into the waiting armored car, and were out of the park by 10 p.m. The Beatles were paid roughly $90,000 for their efforts.

On the plane leaving San Francisco that night, George Harrison told reporters facetiously: "Well, that's it. I'm not a Beatle any more."

The fact is, though Harrison and his mates were stepping away from live performances, and they were just embarking on their most creative, innovative and influential period.

http://www.orovillemr.com/news/
bayarea/ci_4254157

When the Beatles Rocked Dodger Stadium

2006-08-28T01:09:00.000-05:00

In the 44-year history of Dodger Stadium, many great moments are indelibly etched in memory — the 1963 Dodgers, who won the first and only World Championship on their home playing field by sweeping the rival New York Yankees; a perfect game by Sandy Koufax on September 9, 1965; and the magic of Kirk Gibson with his dramatic game-winning home run in Game One of the 1988 World Series against Oakland, to name a few. Yet, none of these are able to approach the sustained decibel level of another famous event held there 40 years ago.

On August 28, 1966, some 45,000 fans screamed ceaselessly, hysterically...basically, taking constant noise to a fever pitch. It was not for a baseball game, however. No, on this Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, a concert was held featuring “The Beatles”. Warm-up acts included soloist Bobby Hebb and bands “The Remains,” “The Cyrkle,” and “The Ronettes.” But they proved to be no match for The Beatles, the pièce de résistance, clean-up hitting, sizzling main course of British imports from Liverpool. Shrieking teen-age girls overpowered the 2,000-watt public address system with some 27 speakers that surrounded the baselines. Some girls worked themselves into such a frenzy, they fainted and had to be carried away.

But, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, the famed quartet who comprised The Beatles, did their job and pleased the crowd, performing 10 of their songs in a 30-minute period. The deafening crowd noise, though, prevented the majority of fans from actually being able to hear any of their music.

“The flat stage (decorated in blue and white), probably four feet off the ground, was set up at second base. We sold out all of the seats in the stadium, other than the Pavilions. The ends of the stadium were sold for the first time. With a flat stage, they could move around and the people on the far ends of the Reserved Level or Field Level could still see them. The promoters gave tickets to people who were blind to sit in the Pavilions.

“Another change was we hired a lot of the off-duty Long Beach police officers. They were in uniform. They turned out to be a great move.”

One of the primary operational concerns was to find the quickest route to get The Beatles out of Dodger Stadium following their brief performance.
“From the stage behind second base, we had a large tent set up and in that tent we had parked two limousines,” said Smith. “The purpose of these limousines was when the show was over, The Beatles would come off the stage, go into one of the limousines and the center field gates would open. The Beatles would be in one car and I think the manager and a couple of guys in another car. Before anybody realized what was happening, we would have The Beatles out of the stadium and gone. It didn’t work out that way.”

The logistical nightmare was just beginning for Smith and his co-worker, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer named Sheldon Combs who headed the Dodger Stadium security force. The Beatles arrived on the eighth level of Dodger Stadium around 4 p.m. and traveled down the elevator to the dugout level. They dressed and prepared for the concert in the Dodger clubhouse. The same clubhouse which was home that 1966 season to four eventual Hall of Famers — Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton and Manager Walter Alston. The other bands used the old Los Angeles Angels clubhouse (used by the Angels in 1962-65), adjacent to the Dodger shower area (on the left field side) as their dressing room. Only Smith, Combs, the promoters and close friends of The Beatles were permitted inside the Dodger clubhouse with special passes.

“The tent was covered — it had a top on it and side curtains. We had ‘Beatles Dressing Room’ on a big sign on the tent,” said Smith. “We had three different plans. The first was, when the show was over, that they would go into the tent. We had a guy in center field and once we said to open the gates, the gates would open and out they would go in the limo. Then we had another plan with a Brink’s Armored truck in Parking Lot B (near the top of Dodger Stadium). We would get them to the elevator up to the eighth level to Lot B and out of there. Then, the third plan we had an ambulance in the tunnel down the left field side, placed there long before the gates opened. That tunnel was sealed off where nobody could go through it or exit or anything.”

During the concert, Smith divided his time between the Dodger dugout and the Press Box on the Club Level. With the help of the Long Beach P.D., Dodger security formed a ring on the field level, some three feet apart, around the stadium. Security supervisors monitored the Dodger dugout, where The Beatles made their entrance from the Dodger clubhouse to the field and ultimately on stage.

As far as the concert itself, Smith said he was less concerned about listening to the foursome’s music than he was making sure that everyone was secure and everything stayed under control.

“From the time they came on the stage till they went off, it was continuous screaming in the stands,” said Smith. “It was so loud. I don’t think you could understand what they were saying because it was so loud. The screaming would be above the music, and they kept cranking up the music. But, all the people were standing up, jumping up and down and screaming. I think compared to baseball, baseball was pretty calm compared to this. The Gibson home run was something similar to that, but it didn’t last as long as when The Beatles were there.”

The noise from the fans wafted from Dodger Stadium all the way to down to Sunset Boulevard, according to Smith. As the thirty minutes of pure pandemonium and exhilaration ended, he was prepared to implement the exit plan.

“When the show was over, all The Beatles but Ringo Starr did exactly what they were supposed to — they came off the stage and went in the tent,” said Smith. “Ringo is on the stage waving a white towel. He won’t come off. It took him maybe an extra five minutes. So now, when the first Beatles got in the limo, the center field gates open. Fans realize what’s happening. Everybody spills out of the stadium on the end of the building and they all head to the center field gates. So, the limo starts that way. The front limo runs into the batter’s eye screen post. There were so many people. We had put white tape up there, so if it got crowded, the driver would just aim at the batter’s eye. He hit the post head on, going two or three miles per hour. Now, the people are all over the car. We are trying to reverse and get the limo back onto the field.

“Chris Duca, the head of the field crew (of the Dodgers known as ‘Dukie’), runs in and he’s trying to get the big gates closed all together and we keep trying to get the limo back on the field. Sheldon Combs, the LAPD guy, got his shirt ripped off and hurt his leg. The Long Beach Police were holding everybody back. Really, they (Long Beach P.D.) saved the day for us, I think, because there were so many of them and they just happened to be in the right location. Kids were breaking those big barricades. They started fighting with police. One of the guys swung at one of the police and he ended up hitting one of his friends right above the eye when the cop ducked.

“We got ‘Dukie’ and got a big rope around those gates — those kids were pushing those gates and they were rocking pretty good. In Parking Lot 8/10 (behind center field), there must have been about 25,000 people out there just milling around, a lot of them still screaming. They wanted to get back in, because they said, ‘The Beatles are in the ballpark!’ We finally got The Beatles back on the field, brought them to the Dodger dugout and the stands were still probably a third full or more, because they were watching what was happening out there.”

Smith then got a call that he could eliminate the second plan.

“We got them back in the dugout and now we said the plan in Lot B is gone,” Smith said. “Some of the fans thought the Brink’s truck in Lot B might be a plan and they let the air out of the tires on the truck. So, that foiled that.

“I was right in the middle of it. The promoter was staying right with The Beatles at the time. We get them back into the Dodger clubhouse. Then we decided we’ve got only one area now and we’ve got to try to get them down through the tunnel, up the stairs and into that ambulance. The Beatles are starting to cooperate pretty good, because they are a little frightened.

“Now, we get them up and in the ambulance and we had two security guards we placed in the ambulance with them to kind of make sure to hold the doors. Here comes the ambulance and you’ve got your red lights and siren going. As the doors opened, the people kind of stepped back and the ambulance went right on through. They got over to Gate B exit at Scott Avenue. Two kids swung one of those paddles that closes the gate. They pushed it and the ambulance driver hit that. Well, that hit the headlight and knocked the battery. The battery ends up in the fan of the ambulance and it starts to overheat. They get them over to Elysian Park, where the baseball diamonds are at. So, now we get a call that that’s where they are stuck. We jump in our cars and head over there. By this time, we are calling for another Brink’s truck. The guy in the Brink’s truck in Lot B with the flat tires had his company send a driver from headquarters to Elysian Park. It must have taken a half hour. The Beatles are sitting right there in this ambulance under the palm trees in the park!
“The security people are almost trying to fight to hold people down. There were quite a few people who said ‘I bet The Beatles are in there (the ambulance).’ We had gotten over there in about 10 or 15 minutes and waited for the Brink’s truck. We stayed away from the ambulance. We didn’t want to create too much of a scene. When the Brink’s truck shows up, we get it close enough to the ambulance. We get the back doors open and the Brink’s guys open that. More or less, the security guards grab The Beatles and threw them in the Brink’s truck. The ambulance driver was sweating pretty good.

“Still, to this day, I remember when they were trying to close the doors of the Brink’s truck, one of The Beatles grabbed some fan’s hair and a wig came right off and when the doors were closed, the wig was still sticking out of the door as the truck left. When that Brink’s truck pulled out of there, cleared the crowd and was on the road, then I could kind of breathe a sigh of relief.”

But, Smith’s night was far from finished.

“We went back to the stadium,” said Smith. “There were some injured people at First Aid, nothing major. Most of the people were injured in the excitement out beyond center field. They just milled around forever. We were making announcements that The Beatles have gone. A lot of people wouldn’t believe that. They’re chanting, ‘The Beatles are still in the ballpark.’ It went on that way. People finally started leaving two or three hours after the event was over. Then, after that 12 o’clock, one o’clock, two o’clock, we still have got a lot of people there.

“People had dropped off their kids and now they are still trying to get back in and pick up these kids. Sometime around two or three in the morning, we moved everything to the Union Oil station. Instead of parents trying to find Lot A or the Security office, that’s where we set up a command post. People were still coming in all night long. I’m still there at daybreak. We called juvenile hall. They sent up three or four buses to pick up close to 200 remaining kids. We would call people as far away as San Diego or Santa Barbara and these people were mad because we would tell them their 15-year-old daughter was still at Dodger Stadium. Then, if they wouldn’t come and get them, that’s when we called juvenile hall. The sun was up over Dodger Stadium when that last bus pulled out of there.”

One of the most satisfying accomplishments for Smith and his staff was that the fans were unable to compromise the playing field. “We always were kind of proud of that,” said Smith, who had ringing in his ears from the noise for several days following. “That at least we didn’t let them take over the field like they had a couple of other places. There were a lot of loose seats, where they were jumping up and down. It was just another special event in Dodger Stadium. I have always thought that the World Series is one of the biggest events that we ever put on there. This was something that we didn’t know a lot about (staging a concert), but I think we prepared for it knowing what happened at the other stadia and we had a lot of extra help and everything. It was much different than a game. This crowd was probably in the 14-18 range, most of it girls.”

The Beatles moved on to San Francisco’s Candlestick Park for their last live public concert the next night before a crowd of 25,000. Their 14-city tour concluded, earning an estimated $1 million.

Smith later ran Stadium Operations for the Dodger organization, first as Director and later as Vice President, spending more than a 30-year career at Dodger Stadium, staging eight World Series, one Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the Olympic Baseball exhibition tournament and a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II.

“Never had I experienced something like that at Dodger Stadium and never again,” he said about The Beatles concert. “It was quite a night!”

Recalling that historic event as “A Hard Day’s Night,” Smith remembers it as if it were “Yesterday.”

http://www.walteromalley.com/
feat_beatles_page5.php

Macca in swingin' sixties

2006-08-27T21:48:00.000-05:00

Pop king Sir Paul McCartney looks the perfect doting dad as he pushes daughter Beatrice on a swing.

Macca, 64, smiled happily as he played with the chuckling two-year-old in a park.

He also drove her around in a buggy attached to the back of his pushbike.
Delighted Beatrice lapped up the attentions of the former Beatle during the light-hearted trip in East Hampton, New York.

Sir Paul is in the city to thrash out a divorce settlement following his marriage split from Bea’s 38-year-old mum Heather Mills.

A source said: “Paul does everything he can to protect Bea from what’s going on. He looked like any other single dad taking his child to the park — except maybe a bit older than most.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/
0,,2-2006390574,00.html

Texan foils burglary in Britain via Beatles webcam

2006-08-27T21:37:00.000-05:00

An American helped foil a burglary in northern England whilst watching a Beatles-related webcam over the Internet, police said on Friday.

The man from Dallas was using a live camera link to look at Mathew Street, an area of Liverpool synonymous with the Beatles and home to the Cavern Club where the band regularly played.

He saw intruders apparently breaking into a sports store and alerted local police.

"We did get a call from someone in Dallas who was watching on a webcam that looks into the tourist areas, of which Mathew Street is one because of all the Beatles stuff," a Merseyside Police spokeswoman said.

"He called directly through to police here." Officers were sent to the scene and three suspects were arrested.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/
articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews
&storyID=2006-08-25T131138Z_
01_L25549806_RTRIDST_0_OUKIN-U
K-BRITAIN-BURGLARY.XML

McCartney Pays Millions for Charity No-Show

2006-08-25T02:41:00.000-05:00

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has paid $2.8 million to a landmine charity after pulling out of its fundraising concert causing the event's subsequent cancellation.

McCartney was supposed to attend October's Los Angeles gig for landmine charity Adopt-A-Landmine with wife Heather Mills McCartney.

But due to their current estrangement and ongoing divorce proceedings, McCartney decided not to go through with his appearance, even though he was scheduled to be the biggest attraction at the fundraiser.

Both McCartney and Mills are sole patrons of Adopt-A-Landmine, with Mills being the founding patron.

Last year the singer helped raise a massive $3.06 million for Mills' charity, which supports the United Nations' efforts to remove landmines across the world.

However, in a statement McCartney says, "While I continue to be committed to Adopt-A-Minefield and its critical mission, given the current circumstances, I will not be able to attend the gala this year."

Other stars, including Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson and Orlando Bloom, have already reportedly paid $900 for tickets to see McCartney perform at the event, which is now cancelled.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/
sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=8259

Mills Fumes Over McCartney Planning Fiasco

2006-08-24T00:48:00.000-05:00

Heather Mills is furious with her estranged husband Sir Paul McCartney after finding out she could be made homeless. The former model blames the rocker for failing to obtain planning permission for the cabin she has been residing in since their split in May (06). The former Beatle has been letting Mills stay in the building so that he can be close to their two-year-old daughter Beatrice, but is currently embroiled in a planning battle with the local council, who have given McCartney until November (06) to submit a retrospective planning application for the illegally-built lodge. A source told British newspaper The Daily Mail, "She is laying the blame firmly at his door for the lack of planning permission. "Heather is furious. When she gets back from Los Angeles - where she is on holiday - she will have to start some serious house-hunting. "She hopes to buy a property when the divorce is finalised. She did have a flat in London but Paul bought that off her so that she could buy a barn which is now being used as an office."

http://www.contactmusic.com/
news.nsf/article/mills%20fumes%
20over%20mccartney%20pla
nning%20fiasco_1006117

McCartney ready to destroy house for cabin

2006-08-23T02:28:00.000-05:00

Paul McCartney, in a dispute with East Sussex, England, planning officers over a cabin built without a permit, has offered to tear down a house in exchange.

His estranged wife Heather Mills had been using the lakeside timber lodge on Woodlands Farm in Peasmarsh so the couple`s 2-year-old daughter Beatrice could be near both parents. Mills blamed McCartney for not getting permission for the cabin`s construction, the Daily Mail reported.

McCartney now has offered to tear down a three-bedroom house and two barns to save the cabin. The council`s planning head Frank Rallings said it will review his offer.

But the former Beatle`s children, Stella, Mary and James from his previous marriage, are said to be upset about the possible loss of the house and barns. Their mother Linda lived on the estate, which the family has owned for 25 years -- until her death in 1998.

http://people.monstersandcritics.com/
article_1193518.php/McCartney_
ready_to_destroy_house_for_cabin

The Beatles Go Metal?

2006-08-23T02:24:00.000-05:00

On October 24, 2006, Restless Records will release "Butchering The Beatles" — featuring the biggest, the baddest, the heaviest all-star line-up ever assembled to honor what is arguably the greatest band ever — THE BEATLES. All-in-all, over 50 internationally known recording artists bring their unique bone-crushing slant to these remarkable songs. Produced by Grammy award-winning producer/guitarist Bob Kulick and ace engineer Brett Chassen, "Butchering The Beatles" features 12 new, ass-kicking versions of THE BEATLES' chart-topping hits, including "Hey Jude", "I Feel Fine" and "Day Tripper", plus the more esoteric "Hey Bulldog", barked out by the legendary Alice Cooper and "Tomorrow Never Knows", uniquely interpreted by the iconic Billy Idol, alongside classic concept songs like "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "Magical Mystery Tour".

When asked by Guitar Player magazine what possessed him to go all metal on THE BEATLES, Bob Kulick stated that, "BEATLES songs are the Holy Grail. They're the best rock songs ever written. These new recordings are totally faithful, yet completely different. Billy Gibbons singing 'Revolution' or (MOTÖRHEAD frontman) Lemmy singing 'Back In The USSR' are not exactly Paul McCartney or John Lennon. And of course, the guitar solo sections were lengthened to accommodate all the artists' solo styles."

"Butchering The Beatles" track listing:

01. "Hey Bulldog"

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Steve Vai - Guitars
Duff McKagen (VELVET REVOLVER / GUNS N' ROSES) - Bass
Mikkey Dee (MOTÖRHEAD) - Drums

02. "Back In The USSR"

Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD) - Vocals/Bass
John5 (MARILYN MANSON / ROB ZOMBIE) - Guitars
Eric Singer (KISS / ALICE COOPER) - Drums

03. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"

Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE) - Vocals
Michael Wilton (QUEENSRŸCHE) - Guitar
Craig Goldy (DIO) - Guitar
Rudy Sarzo (DIO) - Bass
Simon Wright (DIO) - Drums
Scott Warren (DIO) - Keys

04. "Tomorrow Never Knows"

Billy Idol - Vocals
Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL) - Guitars
Blasko (OZZY OSBOURNE) - Bass
Brian Tichy (BILLY IDOL) - Drums

05. "Magical Mystery Tour"

Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN / SOUL SIRKUS) - Vocals
Yngwie Malmsteen (RISING FORCE / ALCATRAZZ) - Lead Guitar
Bob Kulick, (MEAT LOAF / PAUL STANLEY BAND) - Rhythm Guitar
Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN / FOREIGNER) - Bass
Frankie Banali (W.A.S.P. / QUIET RIOT) - Drums

06. "Revolution"

Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) - Vocals / Guitar
Vivian Campbell (DEF LEPPARD) - Guitar
Mike Porcaro (TOTO) - Bass
Gregg Bisonnette (DAVID LEE ROTH / RINGO STARR BAND) - Drums
Joseph Fazzio (SUPERJOINT RITUAL) - Drums

07. "Day Tripper"

Jack Blades (NIGHT RANGER / DAMN YANKEES) - Vocals
Tommy Shaw (STYX / DAMN YANKEES) - Vocals
Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE / DIO) - Guitars
Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE / THIN LIZZY) - Bass
Virgil Donati (STEVE VAI / SOUL SIRKUS / PLANET X) - Drums

08. "I Feel Fine"

John Bush (ANTHRAX) - Vocals
Stephen Carpenter (DEFTONES) - Guitar
Mike Inez (OZZY OSBOURNE / ALICE IN CHAINS) - Bass
John Tempesta (THE CULT / TESTAMENT) - Drums

09. "Taxman"

Doug Pinnick (KING'S X) - Vocals
Steve Lukather (TOTO) - Guitar
Tony Levin (JOHN LENNON / PETER GABRIEL) - Bass
Steve Ferrone (ERIC CLAPTON / TOM PETTY) - Drums

10. "I Saw Her Standing There"

John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE) - Vocals
Phil Campbell (MOTÖRHEAD) - Guitar
C.C. Deville (POISON) - Guitar
Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION) - Bass
Kenny Aronoff (SMASHING PUMPKINS / JON BON JOVI) - Drums

11. "Hey Jude"

Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST / ICED EARTH) - Vocals
George Lynch (DOKKEN / LYNCH MOB) - Guitar
Bob Kulick (MEAT LOAF / PAUL STANLEY BAND) - Rhythm Guitar
Tim Bogert (VANILLA FUDGE / BECK / BOGERT & APPICE) - Bass
Chris Slade (AC/DC) - drums

12. "Drive My Car"

Kip Winger (WINGER) - Vocals
Bruce Kulick (KISS / GRAND FUNK) - Guitar
Tony Franklin (THE FIRM / WHITESNAKE) - Bass
Aynsley Dunbar (WHITESNAKE / JOURNEY) - Drums

http://www.metalunderground.com/
news/details.cfm?newsid=21242&comments=1

Original Beatles promoter to visit Portage

2006-08-21T08:20:00.000-05:00

Sam Leach remembers stepping into a dingy, smelly nightclub 45 years ago like it was yesterday.

A rough-around-the-edges band was performing to an even rougher crowd.

"There was nothing as powerful as that sound that night. Even the gangs stopped fighting that night to hear them," said Leach, of Liverpool, England.

That band was The Beatles. Leach told them then they'd be as big as Elvis Presley. He was right.

Leach became the band's original promoter, signing them to nearly 50 concerts in the 18 months he represented the group.

"Their voices were fantastic. The sound just seemed to go through you," said Leach, who will be a special guest during the city's one-day Portage Music Fest on Saturday, Sept. 2.

Leach, while replaced by Brian Epstein as the band's promoter in 1963, remained close with the group. He's penned several books, including "The Birth of the Beatles."

He's making the trip to Portage as part of the performance of American English, a Chicago-based Beatles-impersonation band.

Being a part of the American English tour, he said, is deja vu.

"For those who have never seen American English, you are going to the see the Beatles live. The first time I saw them was like that first night I saw the Beatles," said Leach, who will introduce the band and then mingle with visitors to answer questions about his life with the Beatles and his career in music promotion.

"The world has never seen the Beatles like they were in those days and months," he said of his time spent with the band, adding American English's performance will bring them back as close to that time as anyone can get.

"I really love it. I really do. I like people to know what it is all about," said Leach about his trips to the United States. The Portage show will be the first of six American English performances he will attend. He'll spend a month on this side of the pond, returning to England on Oct. 2.

Leach, who was instrumental in promoting the Merseybeat sound in the 1960s, is also writing the screenplay for a film based on his life and times with the Beatles.

http://nwitimes.com/articles/
2006/08/21/news/porter_county/
1b6c776e3595af71862571
d10001540b.txt

Paul McCartney 'Heartbroken' By Heather Mills' Behaviour

2006-08-20T02:32:00.000-05:00

The divorce between the former Beatle and former glamour model looks set to be a long affair dragged out through the courts.

And a close friend of McCartney has revealed that he his desperately trying to understand how things have got this bad.

They said: "Paul has been left heartbroken by everything that has happened. He is not angry or bitter or full of rage. It’s much, much sadder than that. He is upset, confused and lonely."

“He can’t believe the way it has all turned out. As far as he is concerned, he always wanted their divorce to be conducted with dignity, diplomacy and discretion.”

Another friend added to the Mirror that McCartney was eager to keep up good relations with Heather until two weeks ago when Mills went public with a supposedly private legal letter.

"That moment was a turning point for Paul," said the pal. "He became convinced that the level of detail must have come from one place - and that wasn’t his own team of aides and lawyers."

"It dawned on him that the gloves were off."

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/
news?id=21188

Beatle Mania

2006-08-20T02:16:00.000-05:00

Some of the biggest names in 60s music will be lining up for Liverpool's 2006 Beatleweek.

The event, at various venues in the city, features bands from more than 20 countries who will attract an estimated 300,000 fans from across the world.

The emphasis this year is on those contemporaries of the Beatles that helped shape and mould their music.

And that means a gig at the Empire Theatre on Saturday, August 26 by The Quarrymen, including four of the original members of John Lennon's school band, Donovan, who travelled with the Beatles to India to meet the Maharishi and helped to write Yellow Sub-marine, and Tony Sheridan, who the Beatles backed and recorded with in Hamburg.

There is also a gig on Friday, August 25, by the Bootleg Beatles.

Sunday, August 27 will see the 2006 Beatles Convention at the Adelphi Hotel.

Appearing there will be original Beatles member Pete Best whose band will debut a new concept album, which tracks the ups and downs of his career.

That Sunday will also see the first all-nighter at the Cavern Club for 40 years.

Taking the stage at the Empire on the Monday will be more 60s legends like the Merseybeats, the Searchers, the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Undertakers, Beryl Marsden and Kingsize Taylor.

Appearing at The Cavern on the Tuesday will be Joey Molland, an Apple recording star with Badfinger, Terry Sylvester, an ex-member of the Swinging Blue Jeans, and the Escorts, who became the voice of The Hollies.

The Matthew Street Festival takes place on the Monday.

Tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.com

For more details check the website www.Caverncitytours.com or ring 0151 236 9091.

http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
entertainment/newsandreviews/
tm_objectid=17585521&method=full&siteid
=50142&headline=beatle
-mania-name_page.html

Macca fears Heather will turn video diary into TV show

2006-08-19T01:14:00.000-05:00

Heather Mills is putting further pressure on Paul McCartney by filming a video diary of the couple's increasingly acrimonious split.

The former Beatle is understood to be concerned that the footage might easily be made into a television documentary to be sold to a broadcaster.

At present, the hours of camcorder tapes concentrate mainly on the frenzied press interest around Miss Mills.

But on a number of occasions recently, footage has also been filmed by Miss Mills and her aides of crucial points in the relationship break-down, such as when she was recently locked out of her estranged husband's London home, for example.

Sources claim the video diary is being made as an 'insurance policy' for Heather which might be used to pressure Sir Paul into a position where he will agree to a greater proportion of his fortune going to his estranged wife.

If broadcast and carefully edited, such a documentary could help sway public opinion in her Heather's favour by portraying her as a victim in an increasingly bitter divorce.

Since the couple announced their separation, Miss Mills has rarely been without her digital camcorder. The black, hand-held gadget has accompanied her everywhere, recording her every move.

When the 38-year-old former model has not been holding the camcorder herself, one of her aides - which have collectively been dubbed Team Heather - has taken up the role of cameraman.

A spokesman for Miss Mills has vehemently denied that she is making a documentary - insisting she is merely recording the movements of the paparazzi who have been following her closely since news of the break-up emerged.

However, the filming includes all of the occasions where Heather might feel she has been wronged by the ex-Beatle.

Last week, the campaigner's close confidante and make-up artist Mark Payne, filmed her departure from McCartney's £8million home in London, as the warring couple handed over their two-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

From the safety of a chauffeur driven car, Payne recorded Miss Mills leaving the house thirty minutes prior to the ex-Beatle's arrival.

It is not known, however, whether or not Miss Mills, who is currently holidaying in Los Angeles, has taken the trusty camcorder with her.

A source close to Heather said: 'Heather feels that her life has become a bit of a pantomime circus since the split. She is being hounded by paparazzi and has no privacy anymore. Originally she set out to film the photographers at work, to prove what a nuisance they are. Now things have moved on and it's turned into a diary of what happens to her every day.

'Heather also sees herself as something of a documentary film maker. The past three months have unwittingly provided ample opportunity to experiment with that.'

One of Sir Paul's confidantes added: 'Paul was initially happy about Heather filming. His only concern was that she shouldn't film little Beatrice. But now the gloves are off, Paul is worried the filming might be used as just another weapon in Heather's armoury.'

During her trip she has held several meetings with her American lawyers - prompting observers to question whether she is angling for residency in the US, which would allow her to obtain a far more generous divorce settlement.

McCartney is also in the United States but staying in New York on a two-week break in the Hamptons.

While Miss Mills has spent much of the past two weeks in the newspapers, being photographed in a series of different situations - and outfits - McCartney has kept a much lower profile.

Friends of McCartney fear that Miss Mills is staging a defiant media campaign with the aid of several, well thought out publicity stunts.

Such claims were fuelled by the publication of photos of Miss Mills boarding a helicopter to Heathrow, with Beatrice, following a hand-over meeting close to McCartney's estate in Peasmarsh, East Sussex.

Insiders in the McCartney camp are said to be adamant that the photographs were a set-up - although Miss Mills' aides have, in turn, been quick to deny all such speculation.

The couple's relationship is at an all-time low after McCartney issued Miss Mills with a legal letter, accusing her of taking three bottles of cleaning fluid without his permission.

Since then, he has also changed all the locks on the couple's former marital home, resulting in Miss Mills being barred from the house.

On one occasion she was humiliatingly mistaken for an intruder by members of the singer's security team, resulting in the police being called into resolve the situation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/
live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews
.html?in_article_id=4012
17&in_page_id=1773

Heather Mills To Divorce Paul McCartney In America?

2006-08-18T02:15:00.000-05:00

Apparently Mills is trying to decide whether to divorce Macca in America where she might have a chance of getting a better settlement.

According to the Daily Mail she was in meetings with lawyers yesterday about going through the American courts.

The news once again shows that Mills is going for as much as she can get out of McCartney’s £800m fortune after rejecting his £30m offer.

She was spotted in Beverley Hills yesterday on yet another shopping spree that’ll no doubt anger her husband yet again.

She was seen visiting designer shops including Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, we wonder whose money she was spending?

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/
news?id=21141

Pete Best says Ringo Starr enjoyed the fruits of his hard work

2006-08-18T02:12:00.000-05:00

The Beatles' original drummer Pete Best says that although there are no hard feelings between him and the group, he does feel that Ringo Starr enjoyed the fruits of his hard work with the band. The drummer joined the group 46 years ago (August 17th, 1960) and was fired just short of two years later on August 15th, 1962. He was replaced by Starr, who had been the drummer for Rory Storm & the Hurricanes.

Best, who says that he has had no substantial contact with any of the Beatles since the night before he was fired, told us that Starr walked into a much cushier job than he did upon joining the Fab Four: "Y'know, when you think about it, the first trip out to Hamburg, (Germany), we were playing six, seven hours a night. And I think actually, when (laughs) Ringo joined they were playing 20 minutes, half an hour sessions, or something like that. So, I did a lot of the spade work, put the long hours in and he was the one who picked up the glory."

While Ringo was with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, he did in fact play similarly grueling sets in Liverpool and Hamburg, often sharing a 12-hour bill with the Beatles.

Best has just wrapped up a U.S. tour with his Pete Best Band.

Later this fall, the drummer will re-release his 2005 Best Of The Beatles DVD, which was previously only available in limited distribution. The documentary features Best's first hand recollections of the Fab Four's formative days in Liverpool and Hamburg.

http://www.therockradio.com/2006/
08/pete-best-says-
ringo-starr-enjoyed.html

The Beatles play Boston, 40 years ago Friday

2006-08-18T02:06:00.000-05:00

It was 40 years ago today that Sergeant Pepper came to Boston to play. Aug. 18, 1966, to be exact - a warm summer evening that crackled with excitement as my best friend's dad, a prominent Boston lawyer wanting to experience his son's Beatle mania firsthand, drove the three of us to Suffolk Downs racetrack.

The crowd of 25,000 sat facing a small wood-frame stage set up on the dirt raceway. We had paid $4.75 per ticket. Warm-up acts - the Remains, Bobby Hebb, the Cyrkle, and the Ronettes - drew appreciative applause, but the evening began when the crowd caught sight of a line of black limousines making its way down the track toward the stage. John, Paul, George, and Ringo were in the house.

If you've never heard 15,000 teenage girls (give or take a few thousand) shriek, you've missed one of life's phenomena. Jon, his dad, and I stood surrounded in the center section, perhaps 225 feet from the stage, like the silent nucleus of an atomic mob. John Lennon belted out the first lyrics - "Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music..." - sending the place into controlled pandemonium. Those proved to be the operative words of the evening - if only we could hear.

The girl next to me held out a camera and asked, screaming, if I would stand on my chair and take a picture of the stage. She never took her eyes off the Beatles as she dictated instructions. My first thought: I am going to master the guitar. By the fourth song, the girls had exhausted themselves and the squeals subsided. We had been given a window to hear.

The vocal harmony of Lennon's baritone and McCartney's tenor has never ceased to amaze me. But to hear it live is another matter. Harrison's guitar work on his sunburst Epiphone Casino offered beautiful embroidery to "Day Tripper" and "Nowhere Man." Ringo nailed each song with his rock-steady beat.

Alas, our show lasted a mere 35 minutes. After finishing the last of 11 songs - "Long Tall Sally" - the Fab Four waved, jumped in their limos, and drove into the night. It turns out we caught the caboose of Beatle mania. Eleven days later, they played their last public concert, in San Francisco, and retired from touring to focus on recording.

The Beatles have never quite left me since that night. Even though we were only in our mid-teens, Jon and I had decided to form a band that year at the private school we attended in the Midwest. We wanted to be the Beatles. He told me that he had been in a group back home and how at one of their shows a girl had jumped up and touched his guitar. He had me at "girl."

Jon played lead on his new Fender Jazzmaster. I played rhythm on my Hagstrom. Borrowing amplifiers from classmates, we played for a few class functions and once for the entire school in the gymnasium. Our repertoire included some pop tunes and, of course, several Beatles songs. We had the requisite Beatle hair cut, with bangs.

Since then, I've often wondered why the Beatles were so much a part of the DNA of our generation - the next several generations, in fact. For me, the Beatles' career bookended my teen years. I was 13 when they first appeared on Ed Sullivan Feb. 9, 1964, and I was 19 when they broke up in 1970. Potent symmetry. Music is the soundtrack to a teen's life, and I associate Beatles songs with all those formulative events - the first parties, dances, cars, and dates. To this day, a Beatle song on the radio acts as a time machine.

The Beatles were master musicians, blessed with two of the era's great voices. Their music was varied and evolved organically over time. Each album's song composition seemed better and more interesting - from their first, "Please Please Me," recorded in a single day, to "Revolver," the album they released just before the Boston concert and worked on 18 hours per song. The White Album, Sgt. Pepper, and Abbey Road were yet to come, and fans would buy them all - an estimated 1 billion discs and tapes to date, more than any group in history.

Of course, the Beatles' artistry didn't just spring from the Liverpool air. They had put in years of apprenticeship in German and English clubs, studied all of America's classic music - R&B, country, the blues, and rock 'n' roll. Their passion for these genres was critical to their sound and ultimate success.

Yet, to me, the Beatles represented more than just music. They epitomized the rebelliousness of the time. In my own version of it, I remember coming home after my first year of college. My dad opened the front door to discover my white peasant shirt and foot-long hair. "Oh Lord," he said, good-naturedly.

Today my infatuation continues, but on a different level. Jon and I still try to play Beatles' songs. We're just doing it long distance and, in middle age, sans hair. We record our parts on 12-track digital recorders and exchange them on CDs. The other adds his own voice-overs and guitar licks. It's like a traveling recording studio.

Our grown-up obsession has led to a dangerous offshoot - guitar collecting. I own Martin and Gibson acoustic guitars, in addition to three electrics. (It reminds me of the old joke about the kid who tells his mother that when he grows up he wants to be a musician. The mother replies: Son, you can't do both.)

My friend Jon has amassed a museum-size collection of Beatles-era electric guitars (24 at last count), most now worth more than Google stock, including a 1955 Gretsch Duo Jet, a 1966 Rickenbacker 12-string, and a 1964 Gibson SG - all like George Harrison's. When I ask Jon why he does it, he says simply: These early guitars represent the authentic voice of the rock 'n' roll era. To him, they are the Stradivariuses of their time.

The Beatles have secured their place as one of the most important forces in 20th-century pop culture. As such, more books come out each year trying to explain their musical genus and genius - including Walter Everett's recent two-volume set, "The Beatles as Musicians." But examine anything too closely, especially art, and it can slip through your hands. McCartney himself once said: "I'd like a lot more things to happen like they did when you were kids, when you didn't know how the conjuror did it and were happy just to see it there and say, 'Well, it's magic.' "

Forty years ago Friday night, John, Paul, George, and Ringo played Suffolk Downs. It was magic.

http://www.csmonitor.com/
2006/0818/p20s01-almp.html

Beatles Fans Come Together at Fest

2006-08-18T02:02:00.000-05:00

The days of The Beatles as a working band may have vanished down the long and winding road, but Beatle fans still abound, and their annual get-togethers still mean here comes the fun.

Fans of The Beatles are not hard to come by. In fact, it's hard to walk around Iowa City, Iowa, without seeing someone in a Beatle or John Lennon T-shirt. The group ranks as the fourth-most listed on Facebook both at the University of Iowa and nationwide. But nowhere is it easier to find Beatle fans than at the annual convention called (for legal reasons) The Fest for Beatles Fans, which took place this past weekend in Chicago. Another convention is held each spring in New Jersey. It is known to regulars as "Beatlefest" and known to me as the highlight of my year. As I entered the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the home of the Chicago Fest, I was greeted by the sound of George Harrison's captivating "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the hotel's PA. The Beatles' music continued to echo through the hotel day and night, feeding the energy coursing through the attendees. Beatle signs decorated the walls, and the halls were filled with fans dressed in Lennon sunglasses and carrying rhinestoned Fab Four purses.

The Hyatt Regency is essentially a giant cube. Rooms line the edges and look out into the open atrium reaching from the ground floor to the 11th. From just outside my room, I could look down and see the fans below, many of whom congregated in small groups, singing Beatle songs. Their voices rose up into the atrium and could be heard into the early morning hours.

The convention took over all the meeting rooms in the hotel. One room was completely taken up by original vinyl sleeves — including the infamous butcher cover, which pictured the band dressed as meatpackers, adorned in plastic babies and raw meat. The ballroom hosted presentations from speakers during the day and live music each night by paint-by-numbers tribute band Liverpool — when one was lucky enough to find standing room. Cover art for each of The Beatles' albums blown up to the size of a large window covered the walls, with the exception of Magical Mystery Tour, which "never made it back from a Jersey Fest," said the event coordinator Mark Lapidos with a laugh. It was here that Paul Saltzman shared his Beatle story.

Saltzman — a quiet and peaceful man eager to discuss the "inner self" with anyone willing — traveled to India in 1968. While there, he was thrilled to receive a letter from his girlfriend.

"I can only remember the first line," Saltzman continued. "It said 'Dear Paul, I've moved in with Henry.'" A friend suggested that Saltzman use meditation to ease his pain. He went to the ashram in Rishikesh, willing to try anything. Unfortunately, his project was hindered by one simple fact: The members of The Beatles were just then occupying the ashram with the maharishi. Saltzman camped outside, not because he wanted to meet the band members, but because he was determined to learn meditation. After eight days, an ashram attendant appeared, and opened the door. Upon learning to meditate, Saltzman saw the Beatles' members clustered in a corner of the grounds and asked if he could join them. Saltzman remembers his exact reaction when they said yes.

"Two voices went off in my head," he said. "The first voice said, 'Eek! It's The Beatles!' Then the second voice said, 'Hey Paul, they're just normal guys like you. Everyone farts and is afraid in the night.' And from that point on, I never thought of them as 'The Beatles.' " Saltzman said he later realized the second voice was his "inner voice," which he had happily just discovered through meditation.

Saltzman documented his week with The Beatles in his book The Beatles in Rishikesh, in which he includes a particularly inspiring moment in his discussions with Harrison.

"He said something that changed my life," Saltzman said. "George said, 'Like we're The Beatles after all, aren't we? We have all the money you could ever dream of. We have all the fame you could ever wish for. But it isn't love. It isn't health. It isn't peace inside, is it?' "

UI senior Jackie Alcantar also attended this year's Chicago convention, her third. She became a fan in high school after the rerelease of the film A Hard Day's Night.

"The fest was a great time for everyone, even if you're not a die-hard fan," said Alcantar, who dragged along her non-fan boyfriend, to his eventual delight. The live music, Alcantar reported, was by far her favorite part of the festivities.

Another eagerly anticipated speaker who returns each year is Mark Hudson, Ringo Starr's longtime producer. His teal moustache and orange goatee gave away his playful and charming nature instantly. His floppy hat and colorful suits endeared him to the audience, which cheered enthusiastically when he was announced. Hudson told stories about the recording of Starr's various albums and talked about the differences between Starr, who's indifferent to the attention of starstruck fans, and Paul McCartney, who eats up the celebrity.

"He was really charismatic and entertaining," Alcantar said. Some of the other speakers, though not uninteresting, were a little drier, but Hudson had an energy that particularly spoke to her. Though the stories and music are integral to the success of The Fest for Beatles Fans, the essence of the convention is the camaraderie among the attendees. The sense of shared purpose made for an instant rapport.

"There were kids there as young as 7 all the way up to grandmothers, who were all there for the same reason," Alcantar said.

Saltzman vocalized this best. "We're all just sitting here talking about The Beatles," he said. "It's because [the band has] done something for each of us. It's given us something."

While in an elevator packed to capacity, I was crammed among several people, all of whom were dressed in Beatles gear. One wore a replica of the baby blue uniform worn by McCartney on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. When we began apologizing to each other for the close quarters, I smiled and said, "It's OK. We're all friends here."

When I awoke Monday morning, all trace of the convention that had occurred was gone. The Beatle signs had been taken down from the walls. The displays of Beatle memorabilia and artwork had disappeared. The singers whose renditions of Beatle songs became so familiar to me had gone home. The intercom system, which had played The Beatles from the moment I entered the hotel on Friday afternoon, now spewed the '80s pop song "Let's Hear It for the Boy." The few thousand others who had been there just the day before now seemed to have vanished.

For a moment, I felt as though the convention had never really happened. As I left, I saw a small notice board sitting near the hotel's exit. Someone had spelled out the word "Imagine" in thumbtacks.

http://www.elvaq.com/
vnews/display.v/ART/
2006/08/17/44e4f2adad828

Win updated guide to Beatles' Liverpool

2006-08-18T01:57:00.000-05:00

The man who first spotted the tourism potential of The Beatles for Merseyside more than 30 years ago has just published a new version of The Beatles' Liverpool - and we've six copies up for grabs.

Ron Jones was Deputy Public Relations Officer for Liverpool in 1974 when he produced a souvenir pack, The Beatles Collection - from Liverpool to the World, the first of many items used to "sell" the city using the name of the Fab Four.

Since then the Merseyside economy has benefited to the tune of millions and millions of pounds, and created many jobs, thanks to the pulling power of the group.

Ron organised the 1985 Beatles Convention handing it over to Cavern City Tours the following year.

The convention was developed into an annual Beatles Week which went on to give birth to the Mathew Street Festival, which sees hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets for the biggest free music festival in Europe.

He has run his own marketing and communications consultancy since 1987 and wrote, designed and published the third edition of The Beatles' Liverpool, which has been comprehensively updated and is now lavishly illustrated in full colour.

Ron operates the Merseyside Photo Library and also took the majority of the pictures in the book.

"At least one of the Beatles used an earlier edition of the book to guide himself around Liverpool," said Ron. "George Harrison used the book to revisit his old haunts."

The 112-page book contains a city centre Beatles trail, Beatles related places around Merseyside, background to Beatles songs influenced by Liverpool, and scores of photographs and maps.

HOW TO ENTER:

To be in with a chance of winning one of six copies of The Beatles' Liverpool, simply email your answer to the following question to icliverpool@gmail.com by midnight on August 31:

Which Beatle used The Guide when he revisted old haunts?

A) George
B) Paul
C) Ringo

Together with your answer, please leave your name, address and a daytime telephone number which we can contact you on. Usual Trinity Mirror competition rules apply.

The Beatles' Liverpool, price £6.95, is available from The Beatles Story, other outlets at Albert Dock, bookshops throughout Merseyside or direct from Ron Jones (email ron@rja-mpl.com )

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/
entertainment/
previewsandreviews/tm_objectid=
17579236&method=full&siteid=50061
&headline=win-updated-guide
-to-beatles--liverpool-
name_page.html

John Lennon: A New Jesus?

2006-08-16T23:19:00.000-05:00

The Beatles, at the height of Beatlemania, were agnostic and didn’t hide this belief. Religion, Paul said in 1963, was something he didn’t think about: “It doesn’t fit in with my life.” While touring Britain in October 1964 he admitted to Playboy, “None of us believe in God.” John clarified the group’s position: “We’re not quite sure what we are, but I know that we’re more agnostic than atheistic.”

Yet just a few months later this assurance in God’s nonbeing would be rocked by their first encounter with LSD. All their material dreams had been achieved so dramatically, at such an early age, that they were starting to ask themselves what was left to look forward to. Since their teen years they’d been motivated by the possibility of wealth, fame, sex, and acclaim, but now that they had these things a fresh purpose was required. Drugs seemed to offer new possibilities.

“The four of us have had the most hectic lives,” said Ringo. “We have got almost anything money can buy. But when you can do that, the things you buy mean nothing after a time. You look for something else, for a new experience.”

They began to question their assumptions and talk openly about belief in God. They cut down on drinking whiskey as they took up smoking pot, and read Aldous Huxley rather than Ian Fleming. George was saying that the only worthwhile pursuit was the search for the answers to the questions, who am I? why am I here? and where am I going? “We made our money and fame, but for me that wasn’t it,” he said. “It was good fun for a while, but it certainly wasn’t the answer to what life is about.”

Paradoxically, as they began to search for a meaning beyond the material, they themselves became a source of meaning to millions of fans around the world. As one father explained to Time in 1967, “The Beatles are explorers, trusty advance scouts. I like them to report to my kids.” This was made all the more exciting because the art was enigmatic and the lyrics ambiguous. They seemed to know more than we did, but what it was that they knew was hard to determine. We emulated their dress and behavior. We combed their interviews for insights. We played their music in the hopes that it would soak into our psyches and somehow make us more like them.

John would later refer to the mid-sixties as the Beatles’ “self-conscious” period, and during it he made his most contentious comment about religion: “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” It was an artlessly delivered observation that would have unforeseen consequences, both for the Beatles as a touring group and for John as an individual. Although the controversy centered on his opinion of the crowd-pulling power of Christianity in the mid-20th century, he was also saying something about the religious function of rock music. For the music he played to be anything like a challenge to Christianity, wouldn’t it have to satisfy some of the same yearning that traditional religion satisfied?

The life and teachings of Jesus had always intrigued John. When he and Paul were still teenagers, they started work on a play, heavily influenced by the absurdism of Harold Pinter’s plays "The Birthday Party" and "The Dumb Waiter," with a central character named Pilchard who lived in suburbia and believed he was a “Christ figure.” In November 1965 Paul mentioned it to New Musical Express, saying that it was “about Jesus Christ coming back to earth as an ordinary person.” John regularly poked fun at church dignitaries, parodied hymns, and drew blasphemous cartoons of Christ on the cross in a way that only the once-faithful can. It was as though he was trying to prove to himself that he was free from the influence of the Church of England.

When he became recognized as a leader, he began to empathize with the person Christians referred to as “the Lord.” He wondered whether Christ, like the Beatles, had had divinity thrust on him by over-zealous followers. Had Jesus been someone with a gift for storytelling, insight into the human condition, and the ability to foretell the future, who had been turned into a god figure against his will? John admired his central teachings of love, justice, and seeking the kingdom of heaven but felt that Jesus had been co-opted by people with a different agenda. He speculated that Jesus’ claim to be the son of God might have been a way of telling us that we’re all divine but that most of us don’t recognize it. When asked to nominate his heroes for the cover of Sgt. Pepper, John included Jesus, but it was eventually decided not to use this image. “It was just too controversial,” says designer Peter Blake. “I’m not even sure that he was actually made into a cut-out.”

In interviews John regularly alluded to biblical events and paraphrased memory verses. When asked by Mersey Beat about the origin of the name “Beatles” in 1961 he wrote: “It came in a vision—a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, ‘From this day on you are Beatles with an A.’ Thank you, Mister Man, they said, thanking him.” This alluded in part to Saint Peter’s vision as recorded in Acts 10: “ And [he] saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth”; in part to the story told in Genesis 17 about the origin of Abraham’s name: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him . . . Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee”; and (possibly) in part to the story in Isaiah 6: “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” In 1973 John referred to his “flaming pie” story as “imitation Bible stuff.”

In 1980, when asked why the Beatles would never reform, his reply alluded to at least three Gospel stories. “Do we have to divide the fish and the loaves for the multitudes again?” he said. “Do we have to get crucified again? Do we have to do the walking on water again because a whole pile of dummies didn’t see it the first time or didn’t believe it when they saw it? That’s what they’re asking. ‘Get off the cross. I didn’t understand it the first time. Can you do it again?’ No way. You can’t do things twice.”

Occasionally this empathy was so consuming that, as he later admitted, when he was under the influence of drugs, “I thought, ‘Oh, I must be Christ.’” His boyhood friend Pete Shotton told of a meeting John called in May 1968 to tell Paul, George, and Ringo that he was Jesus Christ reincarnated. He wanted an authorized statement to that effect put out. Apple’s press officer Derek Taylor, who was also present, listened attentively but wisely ignored the plea, knowing that the drugs would soon wear off and this new Jesus would go back to being John.

http://www.beliefnet.com/
story/197/story_19780_1.html

Douglas' Night with George, Bob and Giant Dog

2006-08-16T23:15:00.000-05:00

Actor Michael Douglas enjoyed one of the most bizarre nights of his life when late Beatle George Harrison and Bob Dylan visited him in his hotel room with a giant dog. The Oscar-winning Basic Instinct star had just won a Golden Globe for his 1987 film Wall Street, but he was miserable because he had to return to his hotel alone. But he suddenly found himself in the company of two of the biggest stars in rock 'n' roll - and a huge pooch. He says, "I was sitting there and had no one to celebrate with. I went back to the hotel, kind of excited but feeling a little sorry for myself. Anyway, I'm in my room and the phone rings and it's George Harrison. "I was like, 'Wow, George Harrison's coming round!' And a couple of minutes later, there's a knock on my door and in he walks. "Following him is the biggest dog I've ever seen in my life. And following the dog was Bob Dylan. "Man, that was one of the most amazing nights of my life."

http://www.contactmusic.com/
news.nsf/article/douglas%20night%
20with%20george%20bob%20
and%20giant%20dog_1005466

Sir Paul McCartney's Heather ban

2006-08-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney has banned estranged wife Heather Mills from collecting daughter Beatrice from his home.

Instead, the former model was forced to travel to neutral territory and meet the two-year-old tot at the Flackley Ash Hotel, just 300 yards from Paul's East Sussex home.

The Beatles legend had been taking care of Beatrice for the past week and sent his daughter to the hotel accompanied by a nanny.

A source told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Paul made it very clear he didn't want her at the main house for the handover. Heather wasn't angry or upset. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, 'If he wants to play it that way, then let him.'

"She thinks the whole matter could be handled a lot more discreetly for Bea's sake. But she didn't want a big row, so she let him have his own way."

The estranged couple then both flew separately to the US from Heathrow airport yesterday (15.08.06).

Once Heather was reunited with her daughter, the pair flew to Heathrow in a navy blue Sikorsky 76A helicopter and boarded the 3pm flight to Los Angeles.

Paul flew to New York an hour later.

The bill for Heather's two-hour helicopter ride was £4,770.

Meanwhile, Heather - who has hired Anthony Julius, the late Princess Diana's divorce lawyer - is set to submit her counter claim this week and it is believed her revelations about their four-year marriage will stun the world.

http://www.lse.co.uk/
ShowbizNews.asp?Code=YK163
705N&headline=sir_paul
_mccartneys_heather_ban

Heather Mills reveals McCartney’s ‘control freak behavior’

2006-08-16T23:01:00.000-05:00

With the impending divorce between Sir Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills growing increasingly bitter and bloody, the model has now filed her own counter-claim to the legendary ‘Beatles’ singer’s divorce petition.

And, in a response to being called ‘argumentative’ and ‘rude’, 38-year old Mills has retaliated by stating that McCartney was a ‘controlling’ husband in the petition that she submitted at the High Court on Monday (14Aug06).

Mills has not only hired the late Princess Diana’s divorce lawyer to represent her in the UK, but has also hired attorneys in the US to refute his claims about her behavior there.

A source close to Mills said that the public has already got a glimpse of McCartney’s ‘controlling’ ways thanks to his ‘freak behavior’ which not only saw him locking his estranged wife out of her marital home, but also freeze their joint account.

“In recent weeks everyone has been able to see how controlling he is by the way he has locked her out of the marital home and written legal letters about her borrowing cleaning fluids,” the Daily Mail quoted the source, as saying.

“Heather had to put up with that sort of control freak behavior throughout the marriage. She also had to put up with the fact that he would change his plans at a whim and expect her to drop everything to be with him. He did not care that she also had work to do,” the source added.

As for the increasingly bitter divorce battle that could see Mills get as much as 200million pounds out of McCartney’s 850million pounds fortune, well the source insists that the singer was the one who threw the first stone.

“As far as Heather is concerned, she did not start this. Paul put in a divorce petition which shocked her and now she feels wound up and angry,” the source added.

http://news.sawf.org/
Entertainment/18320.aspx

Former Beatles drummer stays in tune

2006-08-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

As the live beat of Beatles classics begins bouncing off the walls of the Elks Lodge, a man with a grey moustache stands before his drum set and speaks up in a Liverpool lilt.

"Let’s take you back," he tells the crowd, "to the days when I used to play with a bunch of guys by the names of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison ..."

Ringo Starr’s playing the Elks club? No.

Meet Pete Best, the drummer booted from the band just before Beatlemania exploded. John, Paul, George and new guy Ringo went on to become voices of a generation, musical and cultural history.

http://www.brandonsun.com/
story.php?story_id=27010

McCartney acknowledges Toronto Beatles convention

2006-08-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the last Beatles concert in Toronto, Sir Paul McCartney has sent a special message to fans.

“I wish I could be there celebrating the legacy of the Beatles with you,” he wrote in a letter to organizers of the Toronto Beatles Celebration.

“Thank you for all your love and support.”

The last Toronto concert by the Fab Four took place on Aug. 17, 1966 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The Toronto Beatles Celebration is scheduled for Sept. 16 and 17 at the city’s Exhibition Place and will feature Beatle experts, exhibitors, tribute performers, and the largest collection of Beatles memorabilia ever assembled in Canada.

"I would like to welcome you to the inaugural Toronto Beatles Celebration, celebrating the 40th anniversary of our last Beatles concert in Toronto,” McCartney wrote in a letter addressed to fans.

Event spokesman David Goyette said organizers were stunned to receive McCartney’s letter. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that Mr. McCartney has publicly recognized a Beatle convention,” he said in a release.

One of McCartney’s pet causes, the Adopt-a-Minefield Campaign, is one of the charities that will benefit from the weekend event.

http://www.canada.com/topics/
entertainment/story.html?id=3b726
fd4-aca3-4561-816f-009
5bdf336eb&k=7758

Sir Paul Suffers Heart Scare

2006-08-14T23:24:00.000-05:00

The former Beatle visited London's Harley Street clinic earlier this week for a full body check-up, including tests on his heart, following concerns that his acrimonious divorce was affecting his health.

The source told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "Paul came in with his daughter Mary and was complaining of not feeling well. He was seen straight away by a specialist who gave him a thorough examination. He was checked for his heart rate and blood pressure.

"He looked quite pale and was obviously feeling out of sorts, but after a thorough examination he was given the all-clear.

"He is obviously going through a tough time and he is not getting any younger."

A spokesman for Sir Paul denied the visit was caused by a health scare.

They said: "Sir Paul had a routine, regular check-up. It was not to do with his heart and was something planned for some time."

The musician has gone through a difficult time since the couple announced their separation in May.

The pair now look set for a bitter battle in the courts despite Paul reportedly offering Heather £30 million for a quickie divorce.

Earlier this week Heather found herself locked out of the estranged couple's London home when she tried to drop off their two-year-old daughter Beatrice for a pre-arranged visit, because Sir Paul had reportedly changed the locks.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/
stuff/0,2106,3763619a1860,00.html

Sir Paul McCartney's divorce desperation

2006-08-14T23:17:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney is so desperate to divorce Heather Mills he would pay her £50 million to avoid court, it has been reported.

The former Beatles legend has admitted he can't face the stress of a court battle and if he thought Heather would accept the offer he would write out a cheque immediately.

A source told Britain's News of the World newspaper: "If it was up to Paul he'd settle this matter now. If Heather would accept £50 million and go away quietly he would write the cheque to get it over and done with.

"This divorce has hit Paul really hard. He doesn't want the hassle of a court battle."

Heather reportedly turned down the offer of £30 million to avoid a court battle and some have suggested she may be entitled to up to a quarter of Paul's estimated £825 million fortune.

Last week, relations between the estranged couple - who have a two-year-old daughter Beatrice became even more strained. Paul reportedly froze their joint bank account and changed the locks to his London home.

Heather has even accused Paul of spying on her, claiming she has found a log kept by his security team which recorded her every movement for the past few months.

A source revealed: "Heather spotted the minder's logs of all movements in and out of the property. She accused Paul of spying on her. Paul said he didn't know anything about it.

Heather - who has hired Anthony Julius, Princess Diana's divorce lawyer - is set to submit her counter claim this week and it is believed her revelations about their four-year marriage will shock the showbiz world.

http://www.lse.co.uk/
ShowbizNews.asp?Code=EV143674D&
headline=sir_paul
_mccartneys_divorce_desperation

Priceless mementoes safe after fire at Beatles Story

2006-08-14T23:14:00.000-05:00

Thousands of pounds-worth of souvenirs were damaged when a fire broke out at the Beatles Story Exhibition in the Albert Dock.

No one was injured in the blaze which broke out in a stock room of the popular exhibition, and the priceless memorabilia were also unaffected by the fire.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said that the blaze broke out in the warehouse basement and a significant quantity of cardboard boxes were completely destroyed.

It was estimated around £10,000-worth of souvenir stock at the popular tourist attraction was ruined.

The sprinkler system also came on in public areas, soaking the carpets which staff spent yesterday cleaning and drying.

Operations manager Louise Collier praised staff for evacuating the building when the fire broke out just before noon on Saturday.

She said: "I can't commend our staff highly enough for getting everyone out - all the visitors were all out in four minutes.

"We had a lot of stock damaged, but no memorabilia, and for that we are very relieved."

She said they expected to be open again this morning.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/
0800beatles/0050news/tm_objectid=
17558262&method=full&siteid=
50061&headline=priceless-mem
entoes-safe-after-fire-at-beatl
es-story-name_page.html

McCartney Paints Mills Out Of His Life

2006-08-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney has redecorated his house in a bid to remove all traces of estranged wife Heather Mills. The former Beatle is currently divorcing the former model on grounds of "unreasonable behaviour". And the Coming Up star, who split up with Mills in May (06), has wasted no time in revamping his plush London home, ridding the residence of any memory of Mills. An aide says, "When they broke up he decided to treat himself and he had the house redecorated."

http://www.contactmusic.com/
news.nsf/article/mccartney
%20paints%20mills%20out
%20of%20his%20life_1005163

Lennon movie leaves little to the imagination

2006-08-13T22:50:00.000-05:00

The assassination of John Lennon on a winter’s night in New York, is burned into the memory of almost everyone over a certain age in the western world. For millions of fans, that senseless moment seemed to signify the end of an era. To Andrew Piddington, the director of a new film about Lennon’s killer, Mark Chapman, it marked the beginning of an obsession.

After several years researching the minutiae of Chapman’s life, Piddington is finally ready to unveil The Killing of John Lennon, the first biopic to offer an insight into the twisted mind of the notorious killer, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

From the start Piddington, a veteran television director, knew the decision to make a film about the assassination on December 8, 1980 was not going to be universally popular.

“The killing of John Lennon is a volatile subject that still generates a lot of emotion,” he admits. “In taking on such a subject through the eyes of his killer we are almost inviting adverse criticism and scorn. But I didn’t want to take any soft options. I know the realism could upset people, but I feel we have a responsibility to the truth.”

It seems unlikely that Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, will appreciate Piddington’s efforts. In a recent interview she said documentaries and films about Chapman — such as Chapter 27, a second film about Chapman to be directed by Jarrett Schaeffer, and planned for 2007 — bring back painful memories.

For Piddington, the key difference between this film and its rivals, is its truthfulness. “I didn’t want to misrepresent the psychosis of the man in any way,” he says. “It in no way exonerates or sympathises with him.”

The script is a work of verbatim screenwriting extracted from police statements, interviews, journals and psychiatrists’ transcripts, and recreated in a chilling voice-over by Jonas Ball, the actor playing the killer.

Piddington combed New York’s junk shops, searching out Chapman’s dark glasses, Hawaiian shirt and a period copy of The Catcher in the Rye, which Chapman was clutching when he shot Lennon.

Location shooting was arranged with the same precision. The tiny low-budget film crew went to Decatur, Georgia, where Chapman attended Columbia High School, and to Hawaii, where he purchased the Charter Arms .38 revolver he used to kill Lennon.

But it is the final section of the film, after Chapman had been charged with second-degree murder and sent to Attica state prison, near Buffalo, in upstate New York for 20 years, which Piddington believes is the most chilling.

Cold and remorseless, Chapman’s pride in becoming “the biggest nobody who killed the biggest somebody” is revealed with hammer blows.

Perhaps most moving is the exploration of just how random an act of violence this ultimately was. In interviews with psychiatrists, Chapman admitted that Lennon, was merely one individual on a long list of celebrities who could have become his victims.

“In the end this film explores three tragedies,” says Piddington. “There is the tragedy of John Lennon and the fact that we will never know what he could have achieved.

“There is also the tragedy of this 25-year-old who needed psychological help and didn’t get it in time. And there is the tragedy of their families who have to come to terms with what happened. To me, therein lies the desolation.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/
0,,2090-2308156,00.html

1966 Beatles Concert Memories

2006-08-13T22:04:00.000-05:00

The "warm-up group" was nothing special and I don't remember who they were. All their piles of speakers were removed and replaced by much smaller ones. I believe they were Peavey, made in Mississippi.

The stage was backed up to the wall in the old coliseum at the fairgrounds in Memphis. Security was tight and there was a Jesus rally going on at the city auditorium in protest of The Beatles being in town.

There was a chain link fence around the stage with space for policemen to walk between the fence and the stage.

My girlfriend, whom I married two years later, and I were on row 16 on the floor. She sat and held her ears the entire evening. She was into church and classical music, and only there to humor me.

The Beatles were escorted directly from the airport and directly back when the concert ended. They marched onto the stage and took their bows and immediately began songs back to back. I think they performed every hit of theirs that was on the market at that time, plus a few selected American rock and roll hits of their choosing. Everyone rose to their feet, and on the floor, we had to stand in our chairs - except my girlfriend, Sandra Tallant.

They played and sang without a break for about one hour. They did not miss a beat even after someone set off a cherry bomb in the balcony seats behind me and to my left. They ducked, but did not stop the performance. Of course, there was fear that it was a gunshot.

Police surrounded the culprit and took him and his friends out. There was no further disturbance that I know about.

With a press pass, I was able to go to the stage and shoot two rolls of film. There were only a few of us photographers. The Beatles were gracious and clowned sometimes for the cameras.

I have been a photographer for more than these 40 years and this is one of the most profound memories personally and professionally, including Woodstock a few years later and many concerts since.

- Nathan Duncan, Tupelo

Since this concert was only two days before my wedding, I'd decided it was time to officially put my true love, Charles Michael Moore, over my "former love," John Lennon.

Fortunately, I had the magic memories of an earlier Beatles concert in New Orleans in the spring of 1965. This was my senior year at New Albany High School.

It was then that two of my best friends, Judy Roten and Priscilla Livingston, along with Priscilla's mama, Marjorie Livingston, left from school to venture to the then-grand Roosevelt Hotel in downtown New Orleans.

There we were anxiously awaiting one of the Beatles' first American concerts.

As we waited the arrival of the Fab Four at the outdoor stadium, the crowd of young girls was packed. My arms were literally pressed beside my body. I remember holding a spare flash bulb in my right hand. The press from the crowd caused the fragile flash bulb to crush in my hand.

Just as the black limo pulled in front of me, a security guard stepped between the limo and me. That was OK - I'd snapped a black and white close-up of my elusive Beatles.

The 1965 concert was even more than we could have hoped. We screamed and cried with the electricity, glory and excitement only youth can bring.

I could hardly wait to get my film developed at Gray's Drug Store as soon as we returned to New Albany. The pictures were back ... I must hurry home to open them.

With shaking hands, I took out the photos. There was the limo. But blocking the view of the windows was the back of the security guard. Ugh! I fell back onto my bed and wailed.

Even though my pictures were ruined, my memories were strong.

My wedding day was days away from another Beatles concert (Aug. 1966). This time my precious Michael won out over John.

I still listen to their music, but for this happily married bride of 40 years, their music is truly "yesterday."

- Sherry Moore, Blue Springs

Having loved and lived all my live in south Memphis growing up there as a peddlers son and just returning from my first tour in Vietnam as a paratrooper in the band of brothers 101st Airborne on leave to see my sick father and having a chance to break the sickness of war for only a night in the coliseum on that August night was a thing never to forget.

Then the uniform was khaki pants and shirt and highly polished jump boots with my new combat infantry badge and jump wings and a few ribbons of honor to show I've been somewhere. Most of the security I knew since I peddled the streets around Peabody and Harbert with my father for many years, so getting backstage wasn't a problem. And my cousin was just a young cop too, at that time, making some extra dough.

I just tried to stay out of the way backstage as I was told to do when they arrived, but for some reason, I stood out like a war trophy in those spit-shined boots. John Lennon was the only Beatle who wanted to chat the most. It seems now in my memories of that night, we spoke of the war in Vietnam.

He seemed interested in all the people dying, which at that time were mostly civilians in small villages in the central highlands who had little, even clothes, and just a few Viet Cong killed in small battles that we had been in in the mountains. He was touched by my presence, I think, and ask me to be right beside the stage when they performed. I felt 10 feet high that night and he gave me a wink when playing. He wanted my autograph and I had, at one time, all of theirs with some special notes from each, but lost them in the jungles a long way from Memphis many nights later to the weather.

Oh yes, I didn't even have to pay for a ticket that night, just a rookie trooper. Went back for two more years in combat and won a few more ribbons, but not ever forgetting that night in my home town with The Fab Four back stage.

Oh, what a night.

- Thomas Locastro, Shannon

Back in August 1966, my lavender-colored room with purple carpet was lined with pictures of Paul McCartney and The Beatles. Although I listened to all the bands back then, I was first and foremost a Beatles fan.

I was 14 years old and could not believe it when I heard they were coming to Memphis. We had tickets for the 4 p.m. concert so I headed to Memphis in my grooviest purple and white polka-dotted dress.

My friends and I screamed all the way through the first concert and could not believe how great they sounded - just like on their records. I could not get enough of them and, since I have the best mother ever, I talked her into getting us tickets for the 8:30 p.m. concert, also.

Although we sat behind them, the sound and the frenzy was the same, and they even turned around to look at us a couple of times.

My friend and I sat through both concerts in total awe of how good they sounded and what an amazing show they delivered.

The moment that will never be forgotten came at the end of the first concert as they ended the show. I ran down to the stairs that were directly above the side of the stage where they were walking to go backstage.

I screamed to Paul at the top of my lungs and he looked up directly at me and smiled, then waved - AT ME!

Of course, all my friends never believed it but Paul and I knew it. For a young teenage girl in the '60s, it just didn't get any better than that.

- Sheila Jenkins, Tupelo

It was the summer of 1966 and I was 14 years old. I had been literally "worshipping" The Beatles for over two years and just had to go to their concert in Memphis.

I lived in Holly Springs. The first concert, scheduled for 8:30 p.m., was quickly selling out. However, my best friend, Judy Newsom, and I were able to get two tickets for the second show, which was scheduled once the promoters saw the need for it. The tickets cost $5.50, $5 for the actual ticket and a handling charge of 50 cents. We were ecstatic. We were true Beatles fanatics and had been for a long time.

We made posters for our favorite Beatle, Paul. They said "I love you Paul."

After dressing in our finest, we headed for the concert. Of course, we could not drive and had my parents, along with my 4-year-old little brother, take us to the Coliseum in plenty of time for the afternoon concert.

Of course, my parents were nervous about just dropping us off and we received many pieces of advice about being careful, etc. We took our posters with us (you could not do that today) and took our places in our seats - on the eighth row! We simply could not believe we were actually there.

The opening act sang a song about "a red rubber ball." No groups have opening acts today. Then the most wonderful rock and roll band ever came on stage. There they were Paul, George, Ringo and John. The security guards were taking cameras away from the audience because there was a "law" there were to be no pictures taken. I decided to put mine back in my purse. It was a Brownie camera by Kodak.

It was unbelievable, we were actually there and I was staring right at Paul and screaming his name the whole time they were on stage. I was waving my poster and I believe he looked right at me.

John was on stage wearing those "granny" glasses of his and not really acknowledging anyone yelling at him. We got the sense that he was really ready to leave the group. Ringo and George, like Paul, seemed pleased to be adored by so many people. It was awesome and one of my best memories ever.

They played for a short 25 minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime, not like the two-hour concerts you get for $75 or so today. Here was a really famous group that we were actually a few feet from and they were real! They were not just pictures in the many newspapers and magazines we collected and faces seen on "The Ed Sullivan Show." They were really singing to us in the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tenn., and a part of me believed that Paul was singing just to me! I will never forget it, for it seems like it was "Yesterday."

- Carey Rather Crain, Holly Springs

I was just out of high school in Ripley. We talked about this all summer, trying to get our parents to let us go to Memphis and go to the concert. At this time no one had a car, we had to borrow our parents' and they had only one car. Anyway we finally got the OK to go and the OK to spend the night.

We got our tickets, a motel room and something to eat before we went to the Mid-South Coliseum. Also, we actually "dressed up" and had a great time.

We sat about 10 rows back from the stage. This is a time in my life I will never forget. All went well, no problems.

- Eddie Norton

I was 13 years old and about to enter the 9th grade at Hernando High School in 1966. My friends and I were enjoying the last days of summer before school began. One of my friends had an extra ticket to the Beatles concert in Memphis and invited me to attend. In 1966 most 13-year-olds were not allowed to attend concerts. However, because my friend's parents were taking us, my parents granted permission for me to attend.

I was very excited - more excited because it was my first concert than because it was The Beatles! I remember we had very good seats - they were to the right of the stage and were one level up from the floor. I had no idea what to expect. I had only attended country music venues - my Uncle John Hughey played in Conway Twitty's band. But country music didn't have large concerts like they do now - they would play at fairs and rodeos. So a Beatles concert for a 13-year-old was something very exciting!

Once John (my favorite), Paul, George and Ringo took the stage, all of the females in the seats surrounding ours jumped up and began to scream. It practically scared me to death! Then I realized that this must be how you should behave at concerts. So my friend and I jumped up and began to scream, too. I don't believe we sat down the entire concert. However, I got tired of screaming and just tried to listen to the music. I especially liked listening to them speak with their British accent.

Even though the Beatles were not my favorite music group during my high school years, I'll never forget the excitement of my first concert and the memories it provided for a young, 13-year-old Mississippi girl.

- Jo Ann Henderson, Belden

Summer of 1966: I was 12, not overly fond of The Beatles but used to the hoopla after 2 1/2 years of living with an older sister (15) who wanted to marry Ringo.

Somehow (and this is one of those questions I wish I had asked him) our father managed to snag three tickets for The Beatles at the Mid-South Coliseum.

No clue how he did it, but he must have called in every favor anyone ever owed him. Anyhow, he dropped off my sister, her boyfriend and me at the Coliseum, where we joined a throng of over-the-top, out-of-their-minds teenage girls. Our seats were scraping the top of the coliseum, all the way at the back; I remember the opening act, Bobby Hebb, who had the No. 1 single on the charts, "Sunny." He was terrific.

The Beatles came out to total pandemonium ... much generated by my sister, who screamed through the whole performance.

To this day, I have to admit that I've SEEN the Beatles (way, way off) but never heard them in person. The screaming did not let up and I never heard the first note of their music. Went to see Roy Rogers and Dale Evans the next year and had a much better time (I was a truly strange teenager.) My sister, who went on to marry someone else, still has a soft spot for Ringo.

- Mary Carol Miller, formerly of Tupelo, now of Greenwood

I was only a preteen that summer, but my parents let my sister and me go to the Beatles concert in Memphis with our high school-aged brother and college-aged sister and her beau at the time.

Nobody had his own car in those days, so we all piled into Mama's big station wagon. Highway 61 beckoned us. We left the hot, Mississippi Delta town of Rosedale early in the afternoon on Aug. 19, 1966, because the concert started at 8:30 p.m.

We got to Memphis in plenty of time and made our way to the coliseum with thousands of others who had come from all over the world, as far as I was concerned. We took our place among the throng, standing beneath the massive concrete ceiling outside the coliseum. We were all so expectant and so thrilled to actually be at the Beatles concert at last.

The doors would open soon and my only job was to hold on to that $5.50 ticket with my life so that I would be guaranteed admittance. I could do that.

Unfortunately, I would never hear the Beatles live in concert that hot summer evening in 1966.

It was my first rock 'n' roll concert and my first time to get to do anything really cool - cool being the operative word because the times, they were all about being cool.

Cool I was not - hot I was but too young to know it. And I got hotter and hotter as the crowd grew larger and larger and we all stood closer and closer. The waiting seemed long, and as time passed, my knees locked, and I either stopped breathing enough or I breathed too much too quickly.

Either way, I eventually passed right out! Down I went to the concrete pavement encircling the coliseum in the middle of all that cool, cool crowd.

I could hear everything around me but I was out cold. I was floating by this time and I could hear the security guards asking everyone to "clear the way, please, clear the way, the ambulance is here."

The most memorable comment of all was that of a woman standing up above me somewhere, looking down on my pitiful sight, someone's mother, who said to her own child, "You see that girl, Mary. Now that is exactly why I didn't want to bring you to this concert ... because of people just like that, such carrying on, goodness!"

Gosh, I wish she could've said, "Hello, little girl, I want to hold your hand," so I could once again say "I feel fine."

But no, that mom was hot, too, and definitely not a child of my time, impressed not one bit with the whole phenom of The Beatles who would become the icon of our generation. Gosh, her words just made me wanna shout, "HELP! I need somebody. HELP! not just anybody."

- Nancy Brown Milam, Tupelo

I was there in Memphis sitting in the third row, center. I remember hearing "Paperback Writer" and "Nowhere Man" in particular.

I also remember seeing an ambulance and some hustle bustle just outside the entrance doors before the concert started. I have frequently wondered since then whether that was my future wife, Nancy Brown Lawler from Rosedale, on the gurney. Goodness, you just never know.

- James T. Milam, Tupelo

The summer of 1966 in the south was hot and volatile. There were civil rights marches, race riots in Los Angeles and Chicago and the war in Vietnam. In many parts of the country students spent their summer vacations protesting and marching against the war in Vietnam. As historical and important as these events were then and now, there was another event that would capture the attention of two 15-year-old girls in New Albany. The Beatles were giving a concert tour throughout the United States and one of the concert stops was to be Memphis, only 80 miles away.

Betty Burleson (Daniel)and I had been friends since first grade and we were both huge fans of The Beatles, so we immediately ordered tickets for the 8:30 p.m. concert. Unlike today's concerts, all tickets were the same price $5.50, whether you had a seat on the coliseum floor or the very top row. We were able to get tickets on the floor and near the stage. We began making plans for the week of the concert and what we would do if we actually were able to meet the group.

I went to Memphis a few days prior to the concert on Friday night and spent several days with another longtime friend, Paula Camburn (Hammond). Betty and her parents arrived on Friday and we were ready for the concert to begin. We urged Paula to go to the concert with us, but she wasn't interested. Her choice of music at the time was Paul Revere and the Raiders. We were able to bribe her older brother Ronnie Camburn into dropping us off at the Mid-South Coliseum and returning at the end of the concert to pick us up.

My memories of the concert are much the same as others who attended. There was a delay at the beginning because of death threats against The Beatles and the coliseum was searched for bombs. We had to stand on our chairs the entire time to even get a glimpse of the group as they performed and the screaming of the fans drowned out much of their music. None of that mattered to Betty or myself - we were actually in the same building and just a few yards away from the famous Beatles! Even the cherry bomb that exploded during the third song failed to dampen our spirits.

When Ronnie and Paula picked us up we were too excited to go home. We had devised a scheme to find the group and meet them personally. An announcement at the end of the concert said the group would be flying out immediately for a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the following night. We were sure if we went straight to the Memphis airport we would be able to see The Fab Four and even get an autograph.

Against his better judgment, Ronnie humored us and drove to the airport. He chose to wait for us at the center of the main terminal while we raced up and down the corridors in search of Paul, John, George and Ringo. Unlike today, there was virtually no security to be seen at the airport and very few passengers or workers at midnight. We could see some planes on the runway and we were sure The Beatles were on one of those planes. Checking exit doors, we found one that was unlocked and we went down the stairs and out onto the tarmac. It was very dark and deserted, but we ran from plane to plane hoping to get a glimpse of the group before they left Memphis. We finally gave up the search when we realized they were probably already gone from the airport. We returned to the central terminal where Ronnie sat shaking his head in disbelief at our behavior. He was just glad that we had not been arrested for trespassing.

Betty, Paula and I naively thought such a world famous group would use a commercial airline. We found out the next day they had left in a private jet from the Army Depot airport on the other side of Winchester. Our memories of the actual concert have grown a little fuzzy during the years, but we all three vividly remember our search through the Memphis airport for The Beatles.

Only 10 days after the concert in Memphis the Beatles made their final appearance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. We would never again be that close to them.

- Sandra Barkley McCollum, New Albany

http://www.djournal.com/pages/
story.asp?ID=226050&pub
=1&div=Lifestyles

Heather Mills wants £200million from Paul McCartney in divorce

2006-08-11T00:21:00.000-05:00

Heather Mills has reportedly hired divorce firm Mishcon de Reya to fight for a quarter of Paul McCartney’s £800million fortune.

A source has revealed Heather met with six solicitors from the firm in a five-hour long meeting on Monday: “They wanted to go through every minute detail about the marriage and forthcoming divorce.”

“Heather now has a month to get her defence in before the divorce takes place.”

Heather’s appointment of Mishcon de Reya completes the circle started when when Paul hired Fiona Shackleton: Mishcon de Reya represented Princess Diana and Shackleton, Prince Charles when the royal couple divorced in 1996.

http://fametastic.co.uk/archive/
20060810/2131/heather-mills-
wants-%C2%A3200million-from-
paul-mccartney-in-divorce/

All you need is Beatles

2006-08-11T00:18:00.000-05:00

Love never goes out of style. Maybe that’s why the Beatles don’t either.

Even as one disposable pop trend after another courts the fleeting attention of teens, the Fab Four still attracts new legions of followers four decades after the band’s heyday.

Like love itself, the Beatles are all a young music fan needs.

“Most of the bands I listen to, there’s always something about them I can find that some people don’t like,” said Ben Tully, a senior-to-be at Bainbridge High School. “The Beatles are so timeless. What’s cool is the whole ‘love’ message – that’s a message that people will always be interested in.”

Tully is the impresario behind a live performance of the Beatles’ classic album “Revolver,” a production that makes its third and final appearance at 7 p.m. Friday on the Grace Episcopal Church lawn on Day Road East.

Tully discovered the Beatles a decade ago, when the Apple Records vaults turned out three volumes’ worth of outtakes and unreleased studio sessions as “Beatles Anthology.”

It was a revelation for the young musician – whose mother, Betsy Dunlap, is a longtime island piano teacher and whose father, Tim Tully, is a veteran of the local stage – who to that point wasn’t much of a pop fan.

Tully dreamed up the tribute to his favorite band last November, when he was selected to the high school’s Student Arts and Activities Board.

A bass guitar and trumpet player by training, he recruited members of his own rock band and other musicians he knew from around the school.

When it came time to select an album to re-create, he had unusually rich source material from a band that in its brief existence simultaneously invented modern pop music and obliterated its boundaries.

Tully considered “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Abbey Road,” but decided those records would be too hard to reproduce. Edging out the ever-popular “Rubber Soul” was the groundbreaking “Revolver.”

The album was released exactly 40 years ago on the fulcrum of the Beatles’ two distinct creative periods – the mop-top, teen-frenzy-inducing days through 1965, and the heady psychedelic period from 1967 on in which the recording studio itself become a key instrument.

“Revolver” keeps a foot in each world, from the drolly acerbic “Taxman,” to the elegiac chamber music of “Eleanor Rigby,” the exuberant, horn-driven pop of “Got to Get You Into My Life” and the lysergic drone of “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

The record announced that the Beatles were headed in directions only they could comprehend, ushering in the flower-power rock of the late 1960s.

“I think that album really captures the transition from the Beatles being really big pop stars to being incredible and respected musicians,” said Tim Spenser, who with Tully and Nowell Kahle re-creates the Beatles’ harmonies onstage. “It’s right at the height of their popularity and the flowing of their their creativity.”

Nearly 20 musicians – including horn and string sections – make up Tully’s live revue, coming on and off stage depending on the arrangement. The first two performances, in March and May at BHS, were greeted by enthusiastic crowds, and yes, a little screaming.

Friday’s performance will be family friendly, more white-shirt-and-tie than Nehru jacket. It is, in the end, timeless music that transcends generations.

“To me, they’re the best,” Spenser said. “There’s something about them that no other band has been able to replicate. It’s like they’re singing to you when you’re listening to them. I haven’t heard any other group that’s been able to do that.”

Tully agrees.

“Their music appeals (both) to people who are really, really critical of music and people who aren’t really knowledgeable about music,” he said. “They were so experimental, but they never got so weird that they weren’t listenable or pop-oriented anymore.”

http://www.bainbridgereview.com/
portals-code/list.cgi?
paper=96&amp;cat=23
&id=705517&more=

Musician of Paul McCartney To Produce a New Album of Mashina Vremeni

2006-08-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

Hamish Stuart formerly playing with Paul McCartney will produce a new album of Mashina Vremeni band.

He is also known by playing in the Average White Band, specializing in 'white soul' music. A number of songs have already been recorded, and all the musicians of Mashina Vremeni are happy with the records. Vladimir Matetsky is coordinating the band's collaboration with the Western producer.

The initial idea was that Jeff Linn, the leader of Electric Light Orchestra would do the producing. However, taking into account the inimitable rich sound of all his works, which could hardly be in harmony with Mashina's music, and the cost of Linn's producing work the idea was abandoned.

http://www.russia-ic.com/
news/show/2520/

Beep, beep. Beep, beep. Yeah!

2006-08-09T20:59:00.000-05:00

The music that launched a thousand road trips has been named Canada's favourite driving song in a new national poll. Bryan Adams' classic anthem Summer of '69 toppled Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild -- which took the No. 2 and 3 positions, respectively -- to win the top spot on the list of essential travelling tunes.

It's Only Rock and Roll by The Rolling Stones and Drive My Car by The Beatles rounded out the top five, followed by Tom Petty's Free Falling and Golden Earring's Radar Love. The Pontiac G5 poll, released yesterday in tandem with the automotive maker's world-record attempt for the largest group singalong in Montreal and Toronto, asked 1,000 Canadians to choose their favourite driving song from a list put forward by a panel of music journalists.

"It has to be the sort of song that, when you're on the open highway and it comes on the stereo, there's a solidifying moment," says Aaron Brophy, managing editor of Chart Magazine. "Like, bam! You can't help but sing or bop along, tapping your hand on the steering wheel."

Fully, 66% of Canadians confess to performing car-aoke; of that group, 73% are women and 58% are men. One in three will sing along with family and friends, with only a quarter braving solo performances.

More than a third of respondents (35%) say these road recitals enhance the driving experience and help pass time behind the wheel. Perhaps related is the fact that 31% claim to be natural performers who love to sing wherever they are.

While 50% say they've been busted singing by other drivers, 77% will continue to rock out regardless. Alberta and Ontario drivers boast the most crooning confidence under scrutiny, at 82% and 81%, respectively. British Columbians are the most shy, with more than two in three drivers silencing themselves after being spotted mid-performance.

Quebecers may be the most discreet car-aoke artists in the country, with only 34% having been caught by fellow drivers -- or so they believe.

"I'm sure there are many, many people who are oblivious that someone in the next lane is looking over thinking, 'Wow, that person is really going at it!' " says Brophy.

Monique Ninassi, a constable with the Edmonton Police Service, has spent enough time on patrol to know this to be true, having witnessed countless Canadians channel their inner rock stars on the road.

"As soon as they see the police, they stop singing right away," she says. "They think it's such an offence, like, 'Oh my God, I better smarten up and look all serious.' "

Ninassi finds this reaction amusing since she has been known to belt out a tune behind the wheel herself. When working Christmas Day, for example, she and her partner decided to broadcast holiday music through their patrol car's loudspeaker.

"Jingle Bells came on and I thought, 'I'm going to start singing!' " recalls Ninassi, laughing. "What the heck? It was Christmas and I thought everybody should get into the spirit."

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/
news/artslife/story.html?
id=237ffaf5-90e2-47fd-9d9
d-6dd5145a1316&k=40494

Heather Mills McCartney Gets Locked Out

2006-08-08T15:41:00.000-05:00

A security guard at Paul McCartney's London home called police when one of his estranged wife's guards climbed a wall to let her in, a spokesman for Heather Mills McCartney said Tuesday.

Mills McCartney's security guard climbed a wall to open a gate after realizing the locks at the home had been changed, her spokesman Phil Hall said.

A guard inside called police, who spoke to Mills McCartney and left, Hall said. Mills McCartney then entered the house with the couple's daughter, Beatrice, 2, and stayed the night, he said.

Hall played down the incident, which comes in the midst of what the British media says are acrimonious divorce proceedings between Mills McCartney and the former Beatle.

"She said it was hilarious. It was just a complete mix-up," Hall said.

Stuart Bell, a spokesman for McCartney, declined to comment.

Hall said McCartney had frozen the couple's joint bank account and sent Mills McCartney a letter complaining about three bottles of cleaning liquid that were taken from his home to her office.

London's Metropolitan Police said they were called Monday evening to reports of a suspect on the premises of a northwest London home but would not say whether it was McCartney's.

Officers spoke to a woman but no offenses were found to have been committed, police said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/content/article
/2006/08/08/AR200
6080800624.html

Lindsay Lohan on Chapter 27

2006-08-08T15:38:00.000-05:00

Chapter 27 follows the last few days in the life of Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered music legend John Lennon. Lohan says to prepare for the role she spoke to Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. “I actually sat down with Yoko Ono a few times to talk to her about it. It’s a very touchy subject, and no one wanted me to do the movie that works with me just because John Lennon is a legend – was - God rest his soul. I was actually really nervous going into it because I did get death threats and everything. But the director I believe in, and he’s a good friend of mine.

I saw half of the movie, no music or anything. I’ve never seen a movie like that, while he was editing it, and it really made me nervous. But I love my character in the movie. She’s just such a genuine fan of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the film, and she’s the light in the movie. She is like the Hitchcock blonde, but I’m not blonde in it. She reminds me of that."

Lohan added, "Jarrett Schaeffer is a great director and he’s doing a great job with it. Jared Leto did a great job. It was interesting to me and I wanted to get the okay from Yoko and Sean.”

Lindsay Lohan Shares Her Impression of Yoko Ono: “I nearly died. I walked in; we were wearing almost the same thing. I swear to God. We’re both wearing all black because I was like I need to wear something that Yoko would [sanction]. We went and had sushi and she was so sweet and just amazing in the things that she had to say. …I just think the things that she’s done are wonderful and John Lennon’s music is very inspirational, as was hers. The Ballad of John and Yoko is like my favorite song.”

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lohanlindsay/a/lohan062606.htm

John Lennon Fans Wanted

2006-08-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

Seeking serious John Lennon fans for participation in a video tribute to be shown at various venues around the world.

Required: You have been a fan of Lennon for 30 years or more. You know the lyrics of Plastic Ono Band. You love to sing. You are not shy in front of a camera. You want to pay tribute to John Lennon.

Only serious fans need apply.

Shoot will take place in Newcastle upon Tyne in the second half of August 2006. Travel expenses paid. No fee.

To apply and for more information please call Katharine on 07875 619 588 or email portrait@balticmill.com

http://beatlesstory.com/news.asp?key=2&nkey=125&archive=&nid=BEATL