The Beatles were broken up for a little more than three years when the ‘1962-1966’ and ‘1967-1970’ compilations were released in April 1973. The two-disc sets – known as the ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ albums, respectively – were neither supplements to nor replacements for the band’s other records. They were merely what they appeared to be: collections of great songs by the greatest band that ever walked the earth.
At the start of Feb. 1968, the Beatles found themselves, after a month-and-a-half break, back in Abbey Road studios to begin work on their next single, their first release for 1968. On Feb. 4, the day after work began on Paul McCartney's newest creation, 'Lady Madonna,' sessions took off on a new John Lennon song called 'Across The Universe.'
The Granny Smith apple that has served as the logo for the Beatles' record label is now the property of the Apple computer company. Yesterday (Oct. 25), Patently Apple discovered that the last remaining challenge to the logo's ownership had been cleared and it now belonged to the computer giant.
Mash-ups - the art of taking elements of two or more songs and creating something new out of them - are a hit-or-miss proposition. Too often the soungs don't match up musically in an attempt to create an interesting or ironic juxtaposition.
One of the reasons the Beatles defined the 1960s is because they broke up shortly after that decade had ended. On Dec. 31, 1970, Paul McCartney took the first step in dissolving the group by filing a lawsuit against his three bandmates and their parent company, Apple Corps.
Talk about laughing all the way to the bank. As if having a Knight of the Realm in your band weren't honor enough, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are among the celebrities under consideration to appear on a new 10 pound note that is soon to be issued by the Bank of England.
A rare or limited pressing of a record can draw a pretty penny, and if it's a major rock band the price can really go through the roof. As you might expect, the Beatles dominate Record Collector's new list of the most expensive records in the world. But what might surprise you is that the Sex Pistols also turn up several times in the Top 10.
47 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play . . .
Actually, that's not true, but it was 47 years ago -- on September 25, 1965 -- that ABC first broadcast 'The Beatles,' a 30 minute Saturday morning cartoon that became an instant ratings smash for the network. Several years before they all lived in a yellow submarine (or so the song claimed), the legendary British rockers were first immortalized in animated glory, lending their music -- but not their actual speaking voices -- to the show.
