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Sir Paul McCartney has talked candidly about the depression he suffered after The Beatles broke up, confessing he considered giving up music altogether. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Mastertapes, he said he had been at a loss when the band fell apart in acrimony in 1970. "It was difficult to know what to do after The Beatles. How do you follow that?" ... The Beatles officially split in 1970 with the release of Let It Be, but the seeds of their demise were sown a year earlier, when the band appointed Allen Klein as their manager, against Sir Paul's wishes...

It occurred to me the other day after I read that Ringo Starr is refusing to play a show in North Carolina because he wants to make himself relevant is feeling put out by the so-called bathroom bill banning men from women’s rooms: he must really regret having played drums on “Get Back.” I was surprised this morning to see that no has pointed this out yet. For those of you who don’t know the lyrics to The Beatles’s 17th American number-one single by heart, here are the last two verses: Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman But...

Ringo Starr won't be performing in the Tar Heel State. The former Beatle has just canceled a concert scheduled for June in Cary, North Carolina, citing HB2, an anti-LGBT law signed by Gov. Pat McCrory that has drawn national outrage. "I'm sorry to disappoint my fans in this area, but we need to take a stand against this hatred. Spread peace and love," the 75-year old singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor said in a statement first reported by ABC News on Twitter:

(CNN)Sir George Martin, the music producer whose collaboration with the Beatles helped redraw the boundaries of popular music, died Tuesday, according to his management company. He was 90. Developing story - more to come

Legendary artist and activist Yoko Ono was rushed to a Manhattan hospital on Friday night after suffering a possible stroke, sources said. Ono, a 70s icon and wife of John Lennon, called 911 at around 9 p.m. and said she feared she was having a stroke, according to the sources.

The Beatles’ kaleidoscopic opus Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band arrived in 1967, the “Summer of Love”, the season of psychedelia and LSD, free love and hippy idealism. That all faded into 1968, a year of violence and dread. The Vietnam War raged with no end in sight, civil rights protests and vicious backlashes roiled across America, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, the hippie enclave at Haight-Ashbury descended into a quagmire of hard drugs and crime, protesters and police skirmished at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Czechoslovakia was invaded, numerous countries around the world were...

For those of you who can't get enough of the Beatles http://news.yahoo.com/beatles-stream-across-music-services-christmas-eve-code-054100170--sector.html

test topic, ignore

Andy White, the Scottish studio session musician who played the drums on Love Me Do and other early tracks by The Beatles, has died in New Jersey. According to his family, the 85-year-old died on Monday following a stroke. White was chosen ahead of Ringo Starr in September 1962 to play drums on the single version of Love Me Do and its B-side, P.S. I Love You. White, who was born in Glasgow in 1930, is also believed to have played on the album version of Please Please Me. He could therefore legitimately claim to be one of the so-called...

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”  Beatles - Revolution Maybe you’d like to discuss revolution (h/t Gerard) today; a notion - it seems - that is gaining more traction by the day. So much so in fact that your government has...

Fans have been left shocked by disturbing footage of John Lennon mocking disabled people. The Beatles legend was an inspiration to many, but over the years his darker side has been revealed - and TV show It Was Alright In The 1960s has brought him back under fire.

The Beach Boys frontman opens up about his new solo album No Pier Pressure and alleged ‘rivalry’ with The Beatles. “Rubber Soul inspired Pet Sounds, which inspired Sgt. Pepper’s and that inspired me to make Smile,” Brian Wilson tells me, recalling his 1960s game of one-upmanship with the Beach Boys’ so-called rivals The Beatles. “It wasn’t really a rivalry, though. I was jealous!” Wilson says with a hearty laugh. “It was really just mutual inspiration, I think. I would get to hear their records before they came out and I was totally blown away by Rubber Soul. And Sgt. Pepper’s?...

The folks over at Ultimate Classic Rock published their ranking of the Beatles’ albums a couple of weeks ago. God bless them, they tried, but they got it all wrong. So I’m here to set them straight with my ranking. Enjoy!13. Yellow Submarine (1969) #13 on UCR‘s listYellow Submarine is really only half a Beatles album — the other side is George Martin’s score for the lackluster animated film. Even the half that belongs to the Fab Four contains only four original songs joined by two tunes that appeared earlier. The Yellow Submarine soundtrack really only has value to hardcore...

I love the Beach Boys (not the way I love the Beatles, but still), so why can’t I wholeheartedly love Smile? I ask this question sincerely. I think Brian Wilson is a songwriter, singer, and bassist worthy of great praise. I understand why Paul McCartney was so blown away by Pet Sounds that he dreamed up the idea for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I’m glad Smile has finally seen the official light of day, and I’m intrigued by the what-if game of wondering about what might have happened if Smile had been released in 1967, as originally intended....

A San Diego man discovered the guitar he had unwittingly jammed on for the better part of 45 years once belonged to the legendary John Lennon, stolen from the Beatles in 1963. The story of the long-lost guitar began in 1962, when Lennon and George Harrison picked up two, store-ordered Gibson J-160Es in Liverpool. Lennon played his on tour for about 15 months, until it went missing after a pre-Christmas performance in London. In 1969, it landed in the hands of John McCaw, a San Diego building contractor. He told NBC 7 that a friend had unknowingly bought Lennon’s instrument...

Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett, Ringo Starr Lead 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Forever a Beatle, Starr will enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on Saturday, inducted along with an eclectic class of musicians. Starr, who was previously enshrined with the Beatles in 1988, will be honored along with pop punks Green Day, soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, underground-rock icon Lou Reed, bluesy guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and The "5" Royales. When the Beatles split at the height of their fame, Starr decided to take a shot at being a frontman and surprisingly flourished with...

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Sad news: Cynthia Lennon, the late John Lennon's wife from 1962-1968, has died at age 75 from cancer. According to a rep, her sole child with the former Beatle -- Julian Lennon -- was with her at the time of her death. Here's the statement: "Cynthia Lennon passed away today at her home in Mallorca, Spain following a short but brave battle with cancer. Her son Julian Lennon was at her bedside throughout. The family are thankful for your prayers. Please respect their privacy at this difficult time." Cynthia met John when she was 18 and he was on the...

Lest we forget the damage done to the moral fabric of our nation by Satan's minstrels, here are the lyrics to "Imagine" by John Lennon. A song still prominently played at most major venues and poignant to all but those who actually understand its horrifying "fundamentally transformed" implications... Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people Living life in peace You...