John Lennon voted NME's Utimate Icon!!

From NME.com

John Lennon has been named as NME's Ultimate Musical Icon of the last 60 years.

The Beatles' co-frontman topped the poll, which began with 60 nominees in March of this year, beating out the likes of David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner, Morrissey, Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn to take the crown.

Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher came second in the poll, with David Bowie in third and Alex Turner in fourth. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain came fifth, Amy Winehouse came sixth, with Jimi Hendrix in seventh place.

Morrissey ranked in eighth place, with Noel Gallagher in ninth and Ian Curtis in 10th place..

Read more and see NME's Ultimate Icon runner-ups...

(Thank you to THE BIG BEAT's "Producer Monica" for the heads up on this story)

John Lennon's Irish Island Up for Sale!

From IrishCentral.com

It's the island where John Lennon saw himself and Yoko Ono retiring to with a crazy scrapbook of memories, but nowadays Dorinish Island is home only to sheep and seagulls.

According to San Francisco Gate, the island the size of a dozen soccer fields off Ireland's west coast is being offered as a spiritual retreat to a potential new owner for the knockdown price of $384,000, 45 years after the Beatles legendary songwriter bought it.

Before he was shot by a deranged Mark Chapman in New York in 1980, Lennon revealed to friends his plan to build a home and retire to the island. But his death changed that and Ono eventually sold it to local farmers in 1984...

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Rock You Like A Hurricane; Rory Storm and the Hurricanes' Recording Found!

From NME

Image from NME

Recordings of The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr's first band Rory Storm And The Hurricanes have been discovered, 50 years after they were originally made.

The tapes were recorded in March 1960, a full two years before Starr  was asked by producer Brian Epstein to join The Beatles.

The band performed alongside The Beatles during their stint in Hamburg and were considered to be one of the leading lights of the Liverpool scene. They were fronted by Rory Storm [whose real name is Alan Caldwell], who died in 1972. It is in the basement of his sister's house that the new tapes have been found."

The tapes include tracks recorded at the Jive Hive club in north Liverpool, and at Storm's house...

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Paul McCartney to be Honoured in France

From The Guardian

Paul McCartney is to receive France's highest cultural distinction at a ceremony this week. President François Hollande will decorate the former Beatle with the country's Legion of Honour, as the rank of officer.

Hollande's office made the announcement on Sunday, ahead of the gala ceremony to be held on 8 September. McCartney will be the first British musician to be awarded the Legion of Honour. Previous recipients include JK Rowling, Aung San Suu Kyi, Ravi Shankar and Vladimir Putin. Most members of the order are French citizens: more than 17,000 people have been given the rank of officer, which is the Legion's middle grade...

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"All Together Now: A Tribute to The Beatles" exhibit In L.A.

"It's My Party and I'll Hire The Beatles..." by Shag

Hello Hello, Beatlemaniacs!

"Good Rocky's Revival" by Cuddly Rigor Mortis

Well here we are; Right smack-dab in the middle of Summer. What a great time to get out and enjoy the festivities, picnics, the beach, and great art!

Well, my buddy, colleague, and fellow Beatlemaniac, Sergio Alexander, has filled me in on a super fab Beatles art exhibit happening right now at Gallery Nucleus in the city of Alhambra California. The exhibit will be open for the next 5 days. I've yet to attend but I've checked out the selection of Beatles-inspired creations on the website. These pieces are way to cool for words! I look forward to checkin' it out this weekend! I'm excited to see in person works such as the Abbey Road-inspired "Different Daydreams" by You Byun, and artist Cuddly Rigor Mortis' cute reinterpretation piece "Good Rocky's Revival".

I highly encourage all Beatlemaniacs in the area to attend!

"Different Daydreamers" by You Byun

And what's more? Admission to the exhibit is completely FREE!

For further info be sure to check out the links below:

"All Together Now; A Tribute To The Beatles"
 -ends Sunday July 29, 2012

Gallery Nucleus

210 East Main St
Alhambra CA 91801

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RINGO STARR!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RINGO STARR!!

From BEATLEMANIA Magazine, 1978

As with everybody, thank you for your music, your love, and for keepin' the beat goin'!
(PS; my girlfriend loves your nose!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAUL McCARTNEY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAUL McCARTNEY!!

From Wikipedia.org

"I'm glad it's birthday! Happy Birthday to you!!"

Thank you, Sir Paul, for your music, your love, and for the delicious food recommendations!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SGT. PEPPER!

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - released June 1, 1967

Today, June 1, 2012 marks the 45th anniversary since the release of The Beatles'  landmark album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

It's almost like a page torn out of a book of legends and fantasies! This album is host to a number of "firsts" in Rock and Roll history; It was the first big concept album, the first Rock album to win a Grammy award for 'Album Of The Year', the first to include complete printed lyrics to every song and and the first of The Beatles records to simply have "Beatles" on the cover... which led to another unmistakable first...

It was the first to spawn the "Paul is dead" phenomenon that still polarizes Beatlemaniacs to this very day. Some of the "clues" include the freshly dug grave site, the guitar-shaped wreath implies a left-handed guitar (Paul played lefty), and Paul is standing backwards on the back of the album sleeve as well, further fueling any speculation of his death. Not to mention lyrical cues in tracks such as A Day In The Life (He blew his mind out in a car), and Good Morning, Good Morning (Nothing to do to save his life).

Furthermore, this record was an engineering achievement. The studio sessions were a series of recordings and multiple over dubs all done on 4-tracks. Considering all the arrangement and cacophony on Sgt. Pepper, George Martin and engineer, Geoff Emerick could almost be creative madmen for having tackled this project on.

This record is surely one you must experience for yourself!

ENJOY THE SHOW!

Project: IMAGINE PEACE

Hey, Beatlemaniacs,

Poster by Kimberly Fisher; 2012

About five months ago fellow BIG BEAT listener and international buddy, Kimberly Fisher, started on a video project called "Imagine Peace." It was a collaborative effort in which she invited people to record themselves singing the words to John Lennon's 1971 song, "Imagine" and follow it up with the spoken message "Peace and love."

After months of hard work and extended deadlines, Kimberly has collected video submissions from all around the world and has united this group of youths to help spread the message of PEACE and LOVE.

I want to extend my gratitude to Kimberly for allowing me the privilege to participate. Most importantly, I send my thanks to her for helping to keep the words of John Lennon alive, for helping to promote the message of peace, and for spreading love in her own unique way!

26 PEOPLE, 10 COUNTRIES, ONE SONG, ONE MESSAGE...

Beatles' Sons To Form Band?

Posted by Bob Vincent
From music.Yahoo.com

Beatles fans spent the 1970s hoping the band might get back together, before John Lennon's death put the kibosh on that. But a few dreamers held out and spent the '80s floating the idea that the Beatles could still always reunite and tour with Julian Lennon, who was a huge MTV star at the time, subbing for his dad. Naïveté is stronger than death, right?

But now a new sort of hope has drifted entirely toward the Beatle descendants. Paul's son, 34-year-old singer/songwriter James McCartney, told the BBC that he'd be up for forming a band with some other musically inclined Scions of the Fabs. The group could be called "The Beatles—The Next Generation," the BBC interview helpfully suggested.

James even suggested that he'd had discussions with other Beatle offspring that could result in a quorum…. with one major holdout to contend with.

"I don't think it's something that Zak wants to do," said McCartney, referring to Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey, a highly successful drummer. "Maybe Jason would want to do it," he added, throwing the name of a lesser-known Starr offspring into the mix. "I'd be up for it. Sean (Lennon) seemed to be into it..."

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