Paul McCartney has filed a termination notice in the US reclaiming the publishing rights to The Beatles’ back catalogue.
Although Paul McCartney co-wrote most of The Beatles’ hits, he has never controlled the publishing.
However, the US copyright act of 1976 gives writers the opportunity to reclaim the rights after 56 years.
The Lennon-McCartney catalogue becomes available in 2018, and Paul McCartney has recently moved to recapture it.
According to Billboard, Paul McCartney filed a termination notice for 32 songs with the US Copyright Office in December.
Most of the songs date from 1962 – 1964, although others come from much later in The Beatles’ career. Some of those, including Come Together and Why Don’t We Do It In The Road, are not due to become available until 2025.
An unnamed source told the magazine Paul McCartney would only regain publishing rights for his half of the compositions, most of which he co-wrote with John Lennon. Furthermore, the act only applies to the US, so The Beatles’ back catalogue would remain in the hands of Sony / ATV in the rest of the world.
Yoko Ono has been admitted to hospital with “flu-like symptoms”, her spokesperson says.
Elliot Mintz denied reports John Lennon’s widow had suffered a stroke.
He said Yoko Ono, 83, went to a New York hospital on the advice of her doctor and was expected to be discharged and return home later on Saturday.
Photo Facebook
Yoko Ono was married to John Lennon until he was murdered in 1980 outside New York’s Dakota Building, where she still lives.
An ambulance was called to the building at 21:00 on February 26, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Yoko Ono is spending the night in Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan.
She’s “OK, and she should be home tomorrow (Saturday)” said Elliot Mintz, after speaking to someone with her at the hospital.
Yoko Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, also tweeted that his mother was doing well: “Hey guys it was only rumors from press: was NOT a stroke, just dehydration/tired. She is FINE. Thank you everyone for your concern.”
A Ringo Starr memorabilia has raised a total of $9.2 million at Julien’s Auctions.
The auction lot included more than 1,300 clothes, instruments, pieces of jewellery and other items owned by the Beatle.
The highlight of the sale was a drum kit played by Ringo Starr on many Beatles hits, which fetched $2.1 million.
A Rickenbacker guitar once owned by John Lennon made $910,000.
Ringo Starr’s copy of The White Album, numbered 0000001, sold for $790,000 – which is thought to make it the most expensive record ever sold.
Photo Julien’s Auctions
Julien’s Auctions said it surpassed the previous world record, set when Elvis Presley’s first acetate recording sold for $300,000 earlier this year.
Ringo Starr’s LP was the first mono copy of The White Album to be manufactured in the UK.
It was widely known that the band members kept the first four copies, but until recently it was assumed that John Lennon had owned the first.
Paul McCartney told his official biographer: “John got 0000001 because he shouted loudest. He said, <<Bagsy number one!>>”
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to Ringo Starr and wife Barbara Bach’s charity The Lotus Foundation, which says it aims to advance “social welfare” in a wide range of areas including substance abuse, cancer, cerebral palsy, domestic abuse and animal protection.
Ringo Starr memorabilia auction:
$2,110,000 – Ludwig Drum kit, used on hits including Can’t Buy Me Love and I Want to Hold Your Hand
$910,000 – John Lennon’s 1964 Rickenbacker guitar, which he gave to Ringo Starr in 1968
$790,000 – The White Album, numbered 0000001
$179,200 – George Harrison’s 1962 Gretsch Tennessean guitar, given to Ringo Starr by George Harrison’s family after the Concert for George following Harrison’s death
$179,200 – An 18 carat yellow gold Moonphase watch by Patek Philippe
$125,000 – The back panel from John Lennon’s psychedelic caravan, featuring the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band logo
$115,200 – Ludwig silver sparkle drum kit used in the 1967 Hello, Goodbye video
$106,250 – A gold ring with rectangular sapphire that Ringo Starr says he wore during every show he ever played with the Beatles
$100,000 – A gold and onyx ring, which was also worn for every single Beatles show
The Beatles’ first recording contract, which was signed in 1961 in Hamburg, will be auctioned in New York next month.
According to specialists, the six-page contract could fetch $150,000.
The contract led to the single My Bonnie, which was released on Polydor in Germany under the name Tony Sheridan and the Beat Boys.
It will be auctioned by Heritage Auctions on September 19.
John Lennon signed the document JW Lennon and Paul McCartney signed his full name James Paul McCartney.
The contract was also signed by George Harrison and Pete Best, the drummer who was to be replaced by Ringo Starr the following year.
The Beatles were backing Tony Sheridan at Hamburg’s Top Ten Club at the time, and together they were signed by German record producer Bert Kaempfert to record a rock’n’roll version of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.
The papers are being sold by the estate of Uwe Blaschke, a German graphic designer and Beatles historian, who died in 2010.
The auction also includes a signed copy of the band’s first UK single Love Me Do and a postcard Ringo Starr sent to his mother from Hamburg.
John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, has died at her home in Spain at the age of 75.
A message on her son Julian’s website said she died “following a short but brave battle with cancer”.
The statement said: “Her son Julian Lennon was at her bedside throughout. The family are thankful for your prayers.”
Julian Lennon also tweeted a picture of his mother inside a heart with the message “In Loving Memory”.
Cynthia Lennon was born Cynthia Lillian Powell in Blackpool on September 10, 1939.
She grew up in Hoylake with her parents and two elder brothers and started at Liverpool College of Art in 1957.
Cynthia met John Lennon at art school when he tapped her on the back in class and simply said: “Hi, I’m John.”
They married just before Beatlemania transformed John Lennon into one of the most famous men in the world.
At the height of The Beatles’ early success Cynthia Lennon was, at the insistence of the band’s management, kept in the background so their legions of female fans were not aware of her existence.
She stayed at home bringing up Julian while The Beatles toured the world and topped the charts.
John and Cynthia Lennon divorced in 1968 after she discovered her husband’s affair with Japanese artist Yoko Ono.
Paul McCartney said: “She was a lovely lady who I’ve known since our early days together in Liverpool.
“She was a good mother to Julian and will be missed by us all but I will always have great memories of our times together.”
John Lennon’s second wife Yoko Ono said: “She had such a strong zest for life and I felt proud how we two women stood firm in the Beatles family.
“Please join me in sending love and support to Julian at this very sad time. Love, Yoko.”
Former Beatle Ringo Starr also tweeted: “Peace and love to Julian Lennon God bless Cynthia love Ringo and Barbara xx.”
Cynthia Lennon published memoirs of her time with John and when she was publicizing one of the books in 2005, she told Good Morning America she “couldn’t resist being around him”.
“You couldn’t resist watching what he was up to,” she said.
“I mean, he was a total rebel. Everybody was amazed by him.”
“I have read so many books and seen so many films, and it’s like we don’t really exist. We are like walk-on parts in his life. We did spend 10 years together,” she added.
After divorcing John Lennon, Cynthia married three more times.
In 1970, Cynthia Lennon wed Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini and six years later married engineer John Twist from Lancashire. Both relationships ended with divorce.
Cynthia Lennon later wed former nightclub owner Noel Charles in 2002. He died in 2013.
Beatles rarities from 1963 have been released on iTunes.
Fifty-nine tracks – unreleased outtakes, demos – have been released on iTunes to stop them falling out of copyright and into the public domain.
EU copyright law covers recordings for 70 years if they have had an official release or 50 years if they have not.
The 2-disc set was apparently released, then removed, early on Tuesday, causing speculation it was only being published briefly to extend the copyright period.
Fans posted screenshots of the collection on the New Zealand iTunes store, along with links which later became invalid.
Online reports suggested the same thing had happened in Australia, Russia and Saudi Arabia – although the EU’s copyright laws would not apply in any of these territories.
Beatles rarities from 1963 have been released on iTunes
Gathering together live material and recording session offcuts, the compilation includes four alternate takes of She Loves You, two of From Me To You and several live versions of Roll Over Beethoven.
It also features three attempts at There’s A Place, as well as demos of two songs the group gave to other artists – Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s acoustic version of Bad to Me and Lennon’s piano demo of I’m in Love.
The tracks had been widely bootlegged, but never officially released until now.
After a recent change in the law, the master tape for The Beatles’ 1963 debut album Please Please Me is protected by copyright until 2033, but the unreleased session tapes for that album are not.
If the Beatles chose not to release the recordings before the end of the year, other record labels could theoretically put them out and profit from them next year.
The band’s 1962 debut single Love Me Do arguably slipped out of copyright last year before the EU’s copyright extension was signed into law.
At least one record company issued a “remastered” version of the song, although that has since been deleted.
The copyright law in question only covers the recordings – the composition of the songs remains the copyright of the songwriter for 70 years after his or her death.
Officially called The 50th Anniversary Collection, it carried a subtitle which explained its true purpose: The Copyright Extension Collection, Vol. 1.
The Beatles have decided to release 59 rare and unheard recordings in a bid to stop their copyright protection expiring.
The digital compilation includes four alternate takes of She Loves You and five of A Taste Of Honey.
EU law protects songs for 70 years after they are recorded, but only if they get an official release. Otherwise, copyright lasts 50 years.
In the case of The Beatles, that means their 1963 debut album Please Please Me is protected until 2033, but the unreleased session tapes for that album are not.
If the Beatles chose not to release the recordings before the end of the year, it would mean other record labels could theoretically put them out and profit from them.
The band’s 1962 debut single, Love Me Do, arguably slipped out of copyright last year, before the EU’s copyright extension was signed into law.
At least one record company issued a “remastered” version of the song, although that has since been deleted.
The new collection is expected to reach iTunes on Tuesday.
The Beatles have decided to release 59 rare and unheard recordings in a bid to stop their copyright protection expiring
News of its arrival first appeared on Norwegian Beatles blog, WogBlog, which also published cover art and a tracklisting.
According to the site, the collection contains three versions of There’s A Place as well as demos of two songs the group gave to other artists — Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s acoustic version of Bad to Me and Lennon’s piano demo of I’m in Love.
The Beatles are not the first band to issue rare material in a bid to extend copyright.
Bob Dylan’s record label rushed out 100 copies of an album last year containing early TV performances, alongside multiple versions of Blowin’ in the Wind, Bob Dylan’s Dream and I Shall Be Free.
Officially called The 50th Anniversary Collection, it carried a subtitle which explained its true purpose: The Copyright Extension Collection, Vol. 1.
A second volume followed this year, while Motown has also begun issuing rare recordings on iTunes under the “Motown Unreleased” banner.
Given the low-key nature of the release, it is likely that Apple Corps, the Beatles’ record label, will take down the new material after a brief period, allowing them to exploit the recordings in a more considered way later on.
However, it is likely that the release of rare material will become an annual event, as the band seek to protect their works for another 20 years.
Meanwhile, a more glossy campaign is being mounted to promote a new Beatles box set, which is being released to mark the 50th anniversary of the band’s first trip to America.
The 13-disc set includes all of the band’s American albums, including five that have never been available on CD before.
Many of the records feature different titles, track listings, mixes, and artwork from their UK versions.
The Beatles will also be given a lifetime achievement award by the Grammys in 2014, during a special ceremony the night before the main event.
German electro pioneers Kraftwerk, country star Kris Kristofferson and soul group The Isley Brothers will also be honored.
John Lennon’s school detention documents are being put up for sale.
Teachers from Liverpool’s Quarry Bank High School for Boys wrote that 15-year-old John Lennon was punished for “fighting in class” and “sabotage”.
The two documents from 1955 were rescued by a teacher in the 1970s who had been told to burn all of the books in a storage room at the school.
The sheets are expected to be sold for up to £3,000 ($5,000) each at auction.
The documents reveal that on two occasions John Lennon received three detentions in one day.
Other reasons given by his teachers for punishment include “nuisance”, “shoving” and “just no interest whatsoever”.
John Lennon’s school detention documents are being put up for sale
The documents cover the periods when he was in Class 3B between May 19 and June 23, 1955, and in Class 4C from November 25, 1955, to February 13, 1956.
John Lennon went on to meet Paul McCartney in 1957 and together they formed the Beatles, who had their first hit in late 1962 with the song Love Me Do.
The details of the young John Lennon’s detentions were discovered by an enterprising teacher in the late 1970s.
He had been asked to clear out a storage room to make space for a newly-appointed teacher and had been instructed to burn all the books stored in the room.
But spotting the name “Lennon” in the top of some of the pages he realized they related to the famous former student and tore the sheets from the book to retain as a keepsake.
A number of the pages he had taken out of the book and kept were destroyed at a later date in an accident involving chemicals.
Other sheets he gave away but these pages are some of the few that have survived.
The sheets have been authenticated by John Lennon’s close school friend, Pete Shotton, who wrote a book John Lennon: In My Life.
Peter Beech, who was John Lennon’s general science teacher at the time, said: “The sheet is typical of John Lennon, he was an extremely cheeky boy.
“He did, however, know his limits. In the classroom, if you settled John down, you generally settled the class down.
“His chemistry teacher Eric Oldman said that John could actually go far.”
John Lennon died aged 40 after he was shot outside his New York apartment on December 8, 1980, by Mark Chapman.
Online bidding for the detention sheets and other items of Beatles memorabilia starts at TrackAuction.com on November 22.
A guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles has sold for $408,000 at auction.
The custom-made instrument, built in 1966 by the VOX company, was bought by an unidentified US buyer in New York.
The guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles has sold for $408,000 at auction
George Harrison played I Am The Walrus on the guitar in a scene from Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. John Lennon used it in a video for Hello, Goodbye later that year.
Julien’s Auctions said the guitar had exceeded its estimated value of $200,000-$300,000.
After playing the guitar, John Lennon gave it as a 25th birthday present to Alexis “Magic Alex” Mardas, a member of The Beatles’ inner circle in the 1960s.
A plaque on the back reads: “To Magic Alex/ Alexi thank you/ for been [sic] a friend/ 2-5-1967 John.”
Sir Paul McCartney claims during a new TV interview that Yoko Ono was not responsible for splitting up The Beatles.
“She certainly didn’t break the group up,” tells Paul McCartney, 70, to Sir David Frost in an interview to be broadcast next month.
“I don’t think you can blame her for anything,” he says, claiming John Lennon was “definitely going to leave”.
His remarks challenge a school of thought that holds John Lennon’s widow responsible for the band’s separation.
Paul McCartney’s revelations feature in an hour-long interview with David Frost, 73, that will be aired on the Al Jazeera English TV channel in November.
The programme will also see the former Beatle claim that John Lennon, who died in 1980, would not have written his hit song Imagine without the conceptual artist’s influence.
Paul McCartney claims that Yoko Ono was not responsible for splitting up The Beatles
“When Yoko came along, part of her attraction was her avantgarde side, her view of things,” Paul McCartney tells the veteran broadcaster.
“She showed him another way to be, which was very attractive to him. So it was time for John to leave.”
According to The Observer, the interview will see Paul McCartney muse on losing his mother at the age of 14 and the death of his first wife Linda in 1998.
The musician also discusses being a father and a grandfather, which he describes as “my coolest thing”.
Both Paul McCartney and John Lennon went on to forge successful solo careers after the Fab Four split up in 1970.
Earlier this month saw the 50th anniversary of The Beatles releasing their first single, Love Me Do, in 1962.
Authorities in New York have for the seventh time denied parole to Mark David Chapman, the man who shot dead musician John Lennon in 1980.
Mark David Chapman, now 57, was sentenced to 20 years to life in 1981 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
He shot John Lennon four times outside a Manhattan apartment block. He can reapply for parole in two years.
Authorities in New York have for the seventh time denied parole to Mark David Chapman, the man who shot dead musician John Lennon in 1980
The board said on Wednesday that Mark David Chapman’s release would risk trivializing John Lennon’s murder.
“Despite your positive efforts while incarcerated, your release at this time would greatly undermine respect for the law,” the New York State Board of Parole said in its decision.
Mark David Chapman, a former security guard, was recently transferred to the maximum security Wende Correctional Facility in western New York state.
John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, faces his seventh parole hearing later this week.
Mark David Chapman, now 57, was jailed for 20 years to life after he confessed to shooting the Beatles singer outside his New York apartment in 1980.
He has come up for parole every two years since 2000 and has been turned down each time. In 2010, officials said his release remained “inappropriate”.
A decision on whether to release Mark David Chapman will likely be made public by the end of the week, a prison spokeswoman said.
John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, faces his seventh parole hearing later this week
Mark David Chapman’s interviews with the parole board will take place at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Alden, New York, where he is currently held.
He was transferred to the facility in May this year, where he was understood to have been placed in protective custody, though the reason was never made public.
In the past, John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono is among those who have urged New York state officials to keep him behind bars, saying she fears for her own life and that of her two sons.
The former security guard, who has a history of mental illness, claims to have undergone a religious conversion while in prison.
On his last attempt at release – in September 2010 – Mark David Chapman is understood to have told the parole board he believed that “by killing John Lennon I would become somebody”.
“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Mark David Chapman stated.
“I made a horrible decision to end another human being’s life, for reasons of selfishness.”
“I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies,” he said.
Denying parole at the time, the board cited his “disregard” for human life, adding: “This premeditated, senseless and selfish act of tragic consequence… leads to the conclusion that your discretionary release remains inappropriate at this time and incompatible with the welfare of the community.”
Mel Gibson said John Lennon deserved to die, according to the screenwriter of the failed “Maccabee” project, Joe Eszterhas.
In a scathing 9-page letter, obtained by The Wrap, Joe Eszterhas claims Mel Gibson once ranted about John Lennon: “I’m glad he’s dead. He deserved to be shot. He was f**king messianic. Listen to his songs! Imagine. I hate that f**king song. I’m glad he’s dead.”
According to Joe Eszterhas, Mel Gibson saved his true fury for Oksana Grigorieva, saying: “I want to f**k her in the ass and stab her while I’m doing it.“
Mel Gibson said John Lennon deserved to die, according to Joe Eszterhas
And on the business side, Joe Eszterhas claims Mel Gibson said this of Ari Emanuel, the head of the William Morris Endeavor Agency: “He’s a c*nt Jewboy.”
Mel Gibson has fired back at Joe Eszterhas , claiming the letter is a pack of lies.
Nancy Shevell and Paul McCartney celebrated their marriage again at the Bowery Hotel in New York City last night.
Nancy Shevell, 51, and Paul McCartney, 69, celebrated again their marriage with some of the biggest names in the music industry.
Nancy Shevell wore an electric blue dress and satin jacket paired as she tucked her arm through Sir Paul McCartney.
Lady McCartney accessorized with a black and white clutch, strappy black heels and her giant Cartier engagement ring.
Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell previously partied into the wee hours of the morning following their October 9 wedding at Paul’s home in London.
Nancy Shevell, 51, and Paul McCartney, 69, celebrated again their marriage with some of the biggest names in the music industry at the Bowery Hotel in New York City
Sir Paul matched his outfit to Nancy Shevell’s, looking dapper in a navy blue suit, blue and white striped tie and white shirt, looking his normal animated self as he arrived at the event.
Nancy Shevell and Paul McCartney were joined by a slew of famous friends including Yoko Ono, widow of late Beatle John Lennon, and their son Sean.
Yoko Ono and Sean arrived in hats with mother sporting a black top hat and son in a maroon number and matching bow tie.
Yoko Ono, widow of late Beatle John Lennon, and their son Sean came to Nancy Shevell and Paul McCartney party in New York
Smiley Rolling Stone Keith Richards arrived later joined by his wife Patti Hansen who wore a clinging black dress and black jacket.
Keith Richards wore his usual red headscarf under a grey hat which he tipped to onlookers outside the party.
Nancy Shevell married Paul McCartney on October 9 at Marylebone Register Office in central London, where he married Linda Eastman in March 1969.
The 51-year-old American millionairess is the third wife of Sir Paul McCartney. Nancy Shevell started dating the former Beatle in November 2007 and it was announced on 6 May 2011 that the two had become engaged.
Nancy Shevell and Paul McCartney have a combined fortune of over $1 billion.
Nancy Shevell and ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney married at Marylebone Town Hall in central London on Sunday.
Nancy Shevell and Paul McCartney arrived together just before 3:30 p.m., the groom in a blue suit and the bride in a long-sleeved white gown with a white flower in her hair.
Both wore outfits by Paul McCartney’s fashion designer daughter Stella.
Hundreds of fans were gathered in front of the town hall and went wild when Nancy Shevell and Paul McCartney appeared, with one well-wisher saying of the match:
“It just seems right.”
Nancy Shevell, 51, and Sir Paul McCartney, 69, left Marylebone Town Hall about an hour later and waved to crowds while being showered with confetti, before arriving at his home.
Nancy Shevell and ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney married at Marylebone Town Hall in central London on Sunday
Ringo Starr, the only other surviving former Beatle, and the iconic U.S. television host Barbara Walters, who reportedly played a role in introducing Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell, an American trucking heiress, were there.
Barbara Walters is Nancy Shevell’s second cousin, she said on her show “The View” in 2007.
Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell got engaged in May this year.
The wedding took place at the same venue where Paul McCartney married his first wife, Linda Eastman, in 1969.
Linda McCartney died of breast cancer, aged 56, thirteen years ago.
Nancy Shevell is the daughter of a New Jersey trucking magnate. Nancy is an executive at her father’s company, New England Motor Freight, and a 10-year member of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Nancy Shevell was previously married to lawyer Bruce Blakeman, who is active in Republican and Jewish circles in New York state. Bruce Blakeman ran unsuccessfully for Senate against Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010.
Nancy Shevell father’s company has annual revenues of about $400 million, according to Bruce Blakeman’s biography on his law firm’s website.
Nancy Shevell and Bruce Blakeman have a 19-year-old son.
Alison Cathcart, who performed Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell’s wedding, called the venue “a rock ‘n’ roll place to tie the knot.”
Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit married there, as did Melanie Griffiths and Antonio Banderas.
Sunday would have been John Lennon’s 71st birthday.
Beatles, the world’s most famous band once refused to use a toilet roll while recording their Abbey Road album, because they thought it was too “hard and shiny”.
The rock legends rejected the roll during the 1960s as it also had EMI stamped on every sheet.
The object came to light after Beatles fan Barry Thomas snapped up the toilet roll at an auction complete with a letter from EMI manager Ken Townsend.
Toilet roll The Beatles refused to use while recording Abbey Road, because they thought it was too “hard and shiny”
Experts tried to evaluate the toilet roll last week, but told Barry Thomas they could not price such an odd object. Since then, Thomas has been offered £1,000 just for one sheet of the toilet roll.
Barry Thomas, 66, a grand-father of three bought the unique item of memorabilia in 1980 along with a famous picture that had hung at the studio throughout the Beatles’ time there.
He bought the roll, which came with a jokey letter of authentication by Ken Townsend for £85.
The letter, which is signed by Ken Townsend, reads:
“Most things went very smoothly with the Beatles at Abbey Road – but not this roll of toilet paper which they complained was too hard and shiny.
“They thought it disgraceful that the management should stamp each sheet of paper with EMI Ltd.
“The paper was immediately withdrawn and things became much smoother for staff after that.”
Ken Townsend letter stating why Beatles didn't want to use the toilet roll during their time at Abbey Road
Barry Thomas, who at the time ran a recording studio in Coventry, Warks, said:
“I went along to the auction as I was a Beatles fan, I mean who couldn’t be?
“I saw the roll and I just loved it, it seemed like such an original and unique thing to have.”
“People have the memories and the signed records and pictures and stuff, but no one else can say they have a toilet roll John Lennon rejected,” Thomas added.
“It wasn’t the only thing John specifically complained about in the studios, he also hated the lock on the freezer, so he had a few odd hates.
“At the time it caused a load of interest, the trade for band memorabilia hadn’t taken off then like it has today, even ABC from America wanted to interview me there and then at the auction.
“They asked me why I bought it and I didn’t know what to say, but then it came to me and I told them <<to wipe away all the crap you guys write about our industry>> and they loved that.”
Soon after making the purchase Barry Thomas, who still lives in Coventry with his wife of 45 years, Margarita, was approached by a wealthy collector who wanted a piece of the action.
“This Japanese Beatles memorabilia collector cam up to me,” said Barry Thomas.
“He offered me a thousand pounds for one piece of the roll, just one piece.
“I told him I wouldn’t sell him it, I didn’t want to unroll it, but also I felt it would be less special if it was shared across the world.
“Now I’m thinking about selling it, I had the idea that I could split the whole roll now and sell it off in pieces.
“I say I’ll do that, but to be honest I reckon when I try I won’t be able to bring myself to. The Japanese collector has approached me again and I’ve said no, but no one has been able to put an official value on it.”
Announced at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Martin Scorsese is directing the documentary “George Harrison: Living In The Material World” about the life of former Beatles member.
Martin Scorsese has been working with Olivia Harrison, George Harrison‘ second wife for the last 2 years on the film, which will look at George Harrison’s entire life.
George Harrison and his wife Olivia
The film will feature previously unreleased footage and photos as well as unreleased recordings that the guitarist saved.
Olivia Harrison, one of the film’s producers, has spent years going through her husband’s tapes, notes and photos to deliver essential elements for the film.
“Marty had a connection with George, and they spent some time together. He is as passionate about film and music as George was passionate about music and film,” she said.
It was surely not the intention of the documentary George Harrison: Living In The Material World to depict the Beatle as the prime mover in a sexual free-for-all.
But, driven by a desire to show the so‑called “quiet Beatle” in both “light and shade”, it portrays him as a sensitive, spiritual man with serious weaknesses when it came to women.
The documentary runs for 3 1/2 hours and is in two parts.
The film has just premiered at the Telluride documentary festival in America, and will be shown in its entirety on the BBC on October this year.
Film presented nights of chaos and excess at Friar Park, George Harrison’s immense Victorian Gothic home in Henley, with a haze of dope, cocaine and alcohol.
In a 1973 night, George Harrison’s friend and houseguest Ronnie Wood took him aside and told him that he intended to sleep with the former Beatle’s wife Pattie Boyd that evening.
George Harrison’s response was to point to the room which Ronnie Wood was sharing with his wife Krissie and say: “And I shall be sleeping there.”
There was a moment on the landing when the two men looked at each other, on the threshold of the two bedrooms, and then they both went in.
Ronnie Wood slept with Pattie, and George Harrison slept with the Rolling Stone’s wife – and even took her off to Spain to meet Salvador Dali a few weeks later, which Wood found amusing.
In the same period, George Harrison also slept with Ringo Starr’s wife Maureen, having announced during a dinner party – and in front of Pattie – that he wanted her.
Both Ringo Starr and Pattie Boyd were greatly distressed, and Pattie in particular became annoyed by Maureen’s habit of turning up late at night and spending the evening in meditation with George, or locking herself away in a studio with him.
Pattie Boyd left George Harrison for Eric Clapton
In turn, Pattie Boyd slept with Eric Clapton and eventually left George Harrison for Clapton in 1974.
In an interview, given for the upcoming documentary film about George Harrison’s life, his close friend Eric Clapton recalls that Harrison was “very cavalier” about the affair with Pattie, and almost gave him “carte blanche” to have sex with her.
“To be honest, there was a lot of swapping and fooling around,” Clapton said.
But Pattie Boyd recalls: “That whole period was insane. Friar Park was a madhouse. We were all as drunk, stoned and single-minded as each other.”
In the documentary, Olivia Harrison tells of “hiccups” in their marriage when her husband had affairs, even long after those crazy days of the early 1970s with Pattie were over.
Olivia and George Harrison were married in 1978, a month after the birth of their son Dhani, and she was at his bedside when he died of cancer in 2001.
Between those times, Olivia suggests that her husband had several affairs, which she endured, simply waiting for them to pass and forgiving him when they did.
“He liked women and women liked him,” Olivia says.
“If he just said a couple of words to you, it would have a profound effect. It was hard to deal with someone who was so well loved.”
Paul McCartney says: “I don’t want to say much because he was a pal, but he liked the things that men like. He was red-blooded.”
Red-blooded seems an understatement when it comes to George Harrison, who had an abiding fondness for other men’s wives – much like his devotion to marijuana and sitar music.
According to Beatles expert Bill Harry “George had hundreds and hundreds of affairs. John Lennon was probably the most highly-sexed Beatle, but I would put George next after him.”
And in their tell-all book The Love You Make, two Beatles roadies, Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, assert: “He wanted to seduce every woman he laid eyes on.”
George Harrison and Madonna in 1986 during Shanghai Surprise film press conference
Rather extraordinarily, more than one source suspects that George Harrison had a heavy flirtation with Madonna on the set of the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise, despite the presence of her first husband Sean Penn.
Madonna was at the time deeply unhappy with Sean Penn, and said she found George Harrison, who was executive producer of the film, “very understanding and sympathetic”.
George Harrison came to see them filming in Macau, and also met her several times in London before and after the production.
Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, noted that, although George Harrison felt moved to “read the riot act” to Sean Penn over his hostile and aggressive attitude during filming and gave the actor a stern ticking-off, he treated Madonna with “kid gloves”.
A few weeks after filming finished, he surprised everyone present at a press conference by going on the attack over allegations that Madonna had been impossible to work with, passionately denouncing the assembled journalists as “animals”.
Those who worked with George Harrison at Handmade Films, where he oversaw numerous projects in the 1980s, recall that one close relationship with a young member of the team was very much the talk of the office.
“The story was widely circulated around the film business that he was having an affair with an office junior,” said a source.
It’s all rather extraordinary as, until now, it has always been thought that George Harrison’s love story with Olivia Arias was one of complete spiritual and emotional union.
Olivia, a young woman of Mexican descent, was working as a secretary for the Dark Horse Records label in America when she struck up a telephone friendship with George Harrison, who was recording music for it.
Olivia and George finally encountered each other in person at a party in Los Angeles in 1974. She was a stunning 23-year-old, and he was lonely after the loss of Pattie Boyd a few months previously to Eric Clapton.
Like George Harrison, whose father was a bus driver, Olivia Arias came from a working-class family – her mother was a seamstress, her father, a dry-cleaner.
George Harrison quickly asked Olivia to move into Friar Park with him, so she relocated to England. At first, she found the house lonely, but although Friar Park was so enormous that Pattie Boyd used to complain she could never find her husband, the charismatic George Harrison filled it with friends.
“He was so generous and open, so much more patient with people than me,” Olivia told an interviewer.
“He took everybody along with him, like a driftnet fisherman.
“If we were going on holiday, everybody would come. If we were having dinner, everybody was welcome. He was Pisces, so he swam in a school.”
One of Olivia and George most significant acts was to visit India together in 1976.
That helped George Harrison to continue his spiritual journey which had begun in 1968 with a visit to meditate with the Indian yoga guru Maharishi with the other Beatles.
In 1969, he even gave up all alcohol, drugs and sex for six months, in search of enlightenment.
Unlike his other band members, George Harrison remained committed to the religious sect Hare Krishna, and Olivia shared his commitment.
There was a real sense in which their married life was a retreat. Harrison concentrated on the enormous task of renovating the house and tending the gardens.
George Harrison became passionate about horticulture. To live invisible to the throng behind high walls was a release after the pressure of being a Beatle.
George Harrison first developed cancer in 1997, but the lump in his neck was removed and he underwent radiotherapy.
In 2001, however, it was discovered he had lung cancer, and soon after a brain tumour was also found. Within seven months he had died, with Olivia and his son Dhani by his side.
Olivia tells the documentary that George Harrison had achieved his spiritual goal, which was to take conscious leave of his life and to be ready to go. And, by the end, she says she had forgiven him completely for his affairs.
Buddy Holly: the rock and roll pioneer who died at 22
Buddy Holly, the musician who died at 22 in a plane crash, receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wednesday, September 7, is his 75th birthday anniversary and it is declared Buddy Holly Day in Los Angeles. Maria Elena (Santiago) Holly, singer’s widow, receives the star, while Gary Busey (the artist who portrayed Buddy in The Buddy Holly Story), Phil Everly of the Everly brothers, and Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon speak at the ceremony. Buddy Holly‘s star is the 2,447th.
Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas.
He was a pioneer who established the standard instruments for rock and roll band, of two guitars, bass and drums. Buddy took the genre of rock and roll from Elvis Presley and adjusted it to his own personality. He listened to Elvis in Lubbock in 1955, and started to assimilate a rockabilly style (like of Chuck Berry) with a strong rhythm acoustic and slap bass.
Holly’s works inspired performers like The Beatles (they took their name as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets), The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton. He also has a great influence on popular music. It is said that Holly’s eyeglasses encouraged other singers (John Lennon) to wear their spectacles in public. Anyway, the Memorial to Buddy near the Iowa crash site where he died features his eyeglasses.
Memorial to Buddy Holly near Clear Lake Iowa
Buddy Holly was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and Rolling Stone ranked him among The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.
Holly formed The Crickets, consisting of Holly (lead guitar and vocals), Niki Sullivan (guitar), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), and Jerry Allison (drums), in 1956. Between 1956 and 1959 he put 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Peggy Sue, That’ll be the Day, True Love Ways, Oh Boy!, Everyday became classics and recently two new all-star tribute albums have tried to interpret them like he did.
Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959, in a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
Waylon Jennings, who had given up his seat on the plane to Holly, was haunted by the crash. Along with Buddy Holly Ritchie Valens and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson (another rock and roll pioneers) were killed. The Day the Music Died said about that day Don McLean in his song American Pie (1971).
Holly’s pregnant wife, widow after six months, miscarried due to psychological trauma. Few months later authorities would implemented a policy against publishing victims’ names before the families had been informed.
Buddy Holly launched only three albums, but he recorded so much that Coral Records has released new albums and singles for 10 years after his death.
In Lubbock there is the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza with a Walk of Fame and a statue of Buddy Holly playing his Fender guitar. A street was named in Holly’s honor and The Buddy Holly Center contains a museum of Holly memorabilia and a Fine Arts Gallery.
Glen Campbell released "Ghost of Canvas" and he will start "Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour"
On August 30, Glen Campbell, the legendary pop-country singer, released his (intended) farewell (to studio recording) album Ghost of the Canvas.
The album was announced in March 2010, as a companion for MeetGlen Campbell, but only in June 2011 Glen Campbell has revealed his intention to make it a farewell recording.
Ghost of the Canvas includes new melodies written by Paul Westerberg, Robert Pollard, Jakob Dylan and Campbell himself. It also features recording sessions (Dandy Warhols, Billy Corgan and classic surf-guitarist, Dick Dale). A better place (an autobiographical song) opens the album.
He will also start Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour on September 2. He will perform in US, Canada and UK. The tour begins in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada at the Casino New Brunswick and ends in Silver Springs, Florida at the Twin Oaks Amphitheatre on February 11 2012.
In June 2011 Glen Campbell shared he was diagnosed with Alzheimer‘s disease.
Glen Campbell, 75, has learned about his diagnosis last year, but he had experienced short-term memory loss for a long time.
The singer and his wife, Kimberly, took the decision to declare Glen Campbell’s condition because he wanted to organize farewell events.
“Glen is still an awesome guitar player and singer. But if he flubs a lyric or gets confused on stage, I wouldn’t want people to think, ‘What’s the matter with him? Is he drunk?'” said Kim.
When the diagnosis of senile dementia was confirmed Kim Woolen, 53, was very troubled, then she tried to cope.
“The indicators were there, so I kind of accepted it. You go through a stage of worry then you start trying to educate yourself. The last stages are horrifying. They can forget. They can’t hold their head up. I guess they can forget how to swallow. I try to focus on making each day as happy as we can. We savour every experience with him while we still have him.”
Glen Campbell said he was confident and felt he had found his place in this universe.
“I think where I am at right now in this universe, I wouldn’t want to be anything else than what I am.”
Campbell wants to stay active and he has very good reasons to do this. The progression of Alzheimer’s disease, like progression of early- onset dementia, can be slow down if a person maintains intellectual activities.
Glen Campbell has a 50 years carrier in show business. He launched over 70 albums, 12 went gold, 4 platinum and one double-platinum.
He is renowned for Rhinestone Cowboy, Wichita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Southern Nights, Crying Time (with Ray Charles), Gentle on My Mind.
Rhinestone Cowboy (written by Larry Weiss), 1975, was used in movie soundtracks and TV shows (including Desperate Housewives), and inspired the 1984 Dolly Parton/Sylvester Stallone movie Rhinestone.
Glen was member of the Wrecking Crew (Los Angeles) studio musicians who worked with artists like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Dean Martin and hosted The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969-1972) on CBS television.
Meet Glen Campbell (2008) album features contemporary and classic hits by the likes of John Lennon, U2, the Foo Fighters and Green Day.
Campbell has been married four times and has five sons and three daughters. Debbie, 55, Cal, 28, Shannon, 26 and Ashley, 24, are members of Instant People, his roots band.
A very rare signed copy of the Beatles hit single Please Please Me is expected to make thousands of pounds at Beatles Memorabilia auction.
The seven-inch copy of Please Please Me is described as “very, very rare” and has an estimate of £7,000 to £8,000.
Beatles Memorabilia, the annual auction which takes place in the band’s home city of Liverpool, also includes a number of times belonging John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr as well as their manager Brian Epstein.
A very rare signed copy of the Beatles hit single Please Please Me is expected to make thousands of pounds at Beatles Memorabilia auction
Other highlights of this year auction are 3 rarely seen photographs of Beatles taken at Newcastle City Hall and the Sunderland Empire as Beatlemania was sweeping the world in November 1963.
The pictures were taken by Keith Perry, a freelance photographer, and the negatives were forgotten for 48 years.
Each photo is being sold with full, worldwide copyright and they are expected to attract a frenzy of bid.
A cap belonging to John Lennon is also expected to attract huge interest and carries an estimate of up to £4,000.
Among the more unusual items up for sale is a compulsory purchase order issued for the famous Cavern Club before it was filled in with concrete in the early 1970s.
The order, dated November 17 1970, carries an estimate of up to £5,500.
Other Beatles Memorabilia collected from the Mathew Street venue include a piece of the stage, which could fetch £1,600 to £1,800.
A programme of the Cavern Club reopening, carried out by then prime minister Harold Wilson in July 1966, has a guide price of £80 to £120.
The auction is also inviting bids for a telegram addressed to “Mr. G Starkex” sent by comedy star Peter Sellers to Ringo Starr and first wife Maureen on August 21 1968.
The message is to let them know that the weather is holding up for Sellers’ visit to see them.
“The annual sale, part of the Beatles Convention in Liverpool, is attracting huge levels of interest,” the organizers said.
Stephen Bailey, manager of the Liverpool Beatles Shop which is staging the sale, said:
“The memorabilia has just kept coming in and there’s a lot of excitement building.
“We have several signed singles this year and they always attract a lot of interest from fans and collectors.
“But it’s always the more unusual items which capture the imagination of the buyers.”
There are a total of 322 lots being sold in the auction, which will take place today in the Paul McCartney Auditorium at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
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