December 17, 2009

The 13 Beatles Mini-Documentary Videos from Remastered CDs

Posted on this blog are all 13 of the Beatles Mini-Documentary Videos (from the Remastered CDs). Below are links to each one, in chronological order according to each album's release. These mini-docs give us an interesting look behind the making of each of their studio albums. Check them out.

Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
White Album
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be

December 11, 2009

Video: Beatles Mini-Doc - Let It Be


Video: Beatles Mini-Documentary - Let It Be

List of ALL 13 Beatles Mini-Documentary Videos from the Remastered CDs

December 10, 2009

Video: Beatles Mini-Doc - Abbey Road


Video: Beatles Mini-Documentary - Abbey Road

List of ALL 13 Beatles Mini-Documentary Videos from the Remastered CDs

November 05, 2009

Video: The Beatles performing "Revolution" (David Frost Show)

The Beatles performing "Revolution" on the David Frost Show, blowing the roof off the dump! It originally aired September 4, 1968. They performed the song semi-live (with live vocals performed over a pre-recorded instrumental track) to produce this promotional clip shot by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg. At the same session, they also recorded the "Hey Jude" promotional film.

September 28, 2009

Lucy O'Donnell Vodden of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" fame dies

Lucy Vodden (born Lucy O'Donnell) has died at age 46 after battling lupus for years. Lucy was a nursery school playmate of John Lennon's son Julian.

She came to the attention of John when then 4-year-old Julian came home from school one day with a drawing that he said was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." That sparked off the idea in John for the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." The resulting song was to be featured on The Beatles' ground-breaking 1967 album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Julian Lennon reached out to Vodden in recent years as she suffered from the disease. He sent her flowers with a personally written card and gift vouchers for a garden centre, as she enjoyed gardening. He has said that he is "shocked and saddened" by the death of his former classmate.

See also on BeatlesTrivia.com : Who was the Lucy that inspired “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”?

September 20, 2009

Video: The Beatles "Hello Goodbye"

The Beatles' promotional video for "Hello Goodbye" (1967). This video for the song was banned by the BBC, as the lip-synched performance violated the rules of the United Kingdom's musicians union.

John Lennon was very vocal in his dislike of "Hello Goodbye," saying it was "three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions" and claiming it "smells a mile away." Then again, Lennon was critical of many Beatles songs, including a number of his own.

August 08, 2009

40th Anniversary of the Abbey Road Cover Photo Shoot

Today is the 40th anniversary of the shooting of one of the most famous and most imitated photos in rock 'n' roll history. Around 11:30 am on August 8, 1969, the Beatles and Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan had just 10 minutes to capture an image that would be used for the Abbey Road album cover. The image is of John, Ringo, Paul, and George walking, in single file, across Abbey Road's zebra crossing. Macmillan had to stand on a stepladder in the middle of the road to get a suitable angle on the scene. In some of the earlier shots, McCartney is wearing sandals. By the time the famous photo used for the cover was taken, he was barefoot.

In this outtake from the photo session, notice that Paul still has his sandals on. [Click the images for a larger view]

July 16, 2009

Video: Paul McCartney performing "Back In The USSR" on David Letterman

This is Paul McCartney performing "Back In The USSR" on Late Show with David Letterman on July 15, 2009. This performance wasn't shown on the television episode. Also see him performing "Get Back" and "Sing The Changes".

Video: Paul McCartney performing on David Letterman 7/15/09

Paul McCartney performs "Get Back" and "Sing The Changes" (from Electric Arguments) on the Marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater on July 15th, 2009, for Late Show with David Letterman. The Ed Sullivan Theater (earlier known as CBS-TV Studio 50) is the site where The Beatles famously performed on February 9, 1964, for the Ed Sullivan Show.

May 29, 2009

Video: John Lennon with The Dirty Mac performing "Yer Blues"


This is video of John Lennon and The Dirty Mac performing "Yer Blues" on the Rolling Stones’ TV special “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus”. The date was December 11, 1968.

In addition to John on vocals and rhythm guitar, The Dirty Mac consisted of Eric Clapton (from Cream) on lead guitar, Mitch Mitchell (from The Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums, and Keith Richards (from The Rolling Stones) on bass.

More info on BeatlesTrivia.com

April 29, 2009

Pizza Hut Commercial with Ringo Starr and The Monkees

Great circa mid-1990s Pizza Hut Commercial with Ringo Starr, formerly of The Beatles, and Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones & Peter Tork of the reunited Monkees.

Note: Original Monkee Mike Nesmith was not a part of the reunited group at the time.

March 06, 2009

Introducing BeatlesTrivia.com, a BeatlesLane Spin-Off

I'm happy to announce the brand-new, BeatlesTrivia.com, a spin-off sister site of BeatlesLane.com! The purpose of BeatlesTrivia is to feature trivia, facts and details about the Beatles, with some pictures sprinkled in too. All done blog style. I had originally thought about just adding a Beatles trivia section to BeatlesLane, but I really liked the idea of doing it in a WordPress blog format with the latest posts on top, categories and things like that.

New posts will be added on an on-going basis, one at a time. Thanks for checking it out: BeatlesTrivia.com

January 30, 2009

"Get Back" 40th Anniversary of Beatles Rooftop Performance

Today is the 40th anniversary of the rooftop performance, as seen in the Beatles film 'Let It Be'. On January 30, 1969, accompanied by Billy Preston on keyboards, The Beatles performed five songs on the rooftop of Apple's headquarters in Savile Row near Piccadilly Circus. Some of the neighbors were unhappy with the "noise", so the police were called in to shut it down.

During the performance of "Get Back" (as seen in a now deleted YouTube video, different than the one I have below), you can see George Harrison turning his amplifier back on. I'm thinking Mal Evans most likely turned it off as he's seen talking to George during the song, probably telling him that they need to stop playing.

After the song, Paul McCartney says, "Thanks, Mo!" in response to the enthusiastic cheering and applause from Ringo's wife Maureen Starkey. Then John Lennon says, "I'd like to say 'thank you' on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!" The dialogue can also be heard on the 'Let It Be' album.

January 28, 2009

Freedy Johnston Covers Two Paul McCartney Songs

I've been a fan of Freedy Johnston for nearly 15 years (has it really been that long?!). Last year I was happy to hear that he was releasing an all-covers CD. On Johnston's CD, "My Favorite Waste of Time", he does not one, but two Paul McCartney & Wings songs; "Listen to What the Man Said" and "Let Em' In". In addition to McCartney he also covers Tom Petty, The Eagles, Marshall Crenshaw, Matthew Sweet, The Hollies and others.

The sessions were recorded in Nashville with bassist Bob Babbitt and drummer Ed Greene, and more than a dozen guest musicians. The CD is available on Freedy's official Website or from Amazon.com

Here's a short sample of both of the two McCartney tunes; "Listen to What the Man Said" and "Let Em' In".