The Beatles Archives - Page 3 of 17

‘Let It Be’: How Paul McCartney defied The Beatles’ attitudes with one defining song

When everything started to cave in on The Beatles‘ empire, it wasn’t just that they were losing steam. Alongside the creative differences and frustrations, Paul McCartney was the only one who still seemed interested in keeping things afloat. Even George Harrison had grown disillusioned with being part of the Fab Four, and John Lennon—well, Lennon […]

Why did The Beatles break up?

The Beatles played their first concert on a warm August evening at Liverpool’s Jacaranda Club in 1960. They officially broke up just under ten years later when, on April 10th, 1970, Paul McCartney announced the split in a press release. Within that time, they released 12 albums, 22 singles, and five films. They rode the […]

Who wrote ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles?

Over a brief span in the 1960s, The Beatles achieved a musical dominance like no other. They released their debut single in 1962, and when they announced that they were disbanding at the beginning of 1970, they had 20 number one singles under their belt. Of all the tracks that topped that charts, it’s arguable […]

‘It’s Only Love’: The Beatles song Paul McCartney called “bland”

Despite the myriad of brilliant songwriting duos over the years, no one comes close in impact or significance to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Steering the journey of The Beatles, the pair of Liverpudlians changed the world, with the effects of their music still reverberating throughout life today, over 50 years since the band’s split. […]

The Beatles and the Civil Rights Movement: How the Fab Four fought racial segregation in 1964

It’s distressing and difficult to reconcile that even as recently as the 1960s, audiences in the US and the UK remained racially segregated. While the UK never officially enforced segregation, it also didn’t have laws that prohibited the practice until 1965. Meanwhile, in America, up until the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, racial […]

Before the breakup: The Beatles songs John Lennon described as Paul McCartney’s “last gasp”

As the 1960s came to an end, so too did The Beatles. Tensions between the band had been rising since the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, in 1967. The songwriting partnership at the centre of the band had been breaking down for years, as John Lennon began to prefer collaborating with Yoko Ono and […]

What was the first song The Beatles wrote together?

In the second half of 1962, The Beatles became one of the first British bands to release a debut single they had written themselves from scratch. The song ‘Love Me Do’ was one of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s earliest joint songwriting efforts, worked out together by the two of them from a song idea […]

What was the final Beatles song recorded together by all four band members?

On August 20th, 1969, the four members of The Beatles gathered in Studio 2 of Abbey Road with producer George Martin. They were putting the finishing touches to a song as they often did, overdubbing harmonised backing vocals and instrumental takes the same way they’d done since their early singles. At the time, though some […]

What is John Lennon saying at the beginning of The Beatles album ‘Let It Be’?

The final album released by The Beatles wasn’t supposed to go out in the form it eventually did. It was almost entirely recorded before the one that preceded its release, Abbey Road, as an attempt to get the band back to where they once belonged, in the mood for making raw-edged rock and roll music. […]

Why The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ Confused John Lennon

John Lennon said he didn’t understand The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” when he wrote it. Subsequently, he said it was up to others to analyze The Beatles’ songs. John put “Tomorrow Never Knows” in the same category as another Fab Four song which is very different. John Lennon didn’t understand The Beatles’ ‘I Am the […]