Badfinger Owes 3,000% Sales Gain to "Breaking Bad" Finale

From Billboard

Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is suddenly red hot.

The song, which closed the finale of AMC's hit series "Breaking Bad" last night (Sept. 29), has suddenly risen into the top 25 on iTunes' top songs list and is poised for a return to the Billboard charts this week.

Industry sources suggest the song is set for a nearly 3,000% sales gain in the week ending Sept. 29. It sold nearly 5,000 downloads just last night. Remarkably, that one-day figure should immediately make the 1972 song earn its largest digital sales week ever. It has never sold more than 1,000 downloads in a single week, according to Nielsen SoundScan...

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Jackie Lomax, Dead at 69

From Guitar World

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Jackie Lomax died Monday, September 16, at age 69

Although Beatles fans will most likely remember Lomax for recording a George Harrison-penned track called "Sour Milk Sea" in 1968, Lomax originally rose to prominence as a member of a Merseybeat group called the Undertakers in the early ’60s.

That band's success led to their quickly acquiring the services of Beatles manager Brian Epstein, which eventually led to a friendship with the Beatles and a recording contract with their label, Apple Records.

In 1969, Lomax released a highly regarded solo album, Is This What You Want?, on Apple. It was produced by Harrison and featured contributions by Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton. However, despite its impressive guest list, the album didn't make it past No. 145 on the Billboard album chart.

Although Lomax never enjoyed commercial success, he continued to release R&B-influenced music, including 1971′s Home Is in My Head He remained musically active throughout the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and beyond, doing time in several short-lived bands and resurfacing to record the occasional record...

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In Depth Look at Lennon's Acoustic Guitar

From WTOP.com

The imperfections were what made it perfect.

It was 18 years ago John Lennon's flat top acoustic guitar used in the Beatles was first displayed to the public at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
DJ Cerphe Colwell was there for the unveiling of Lennon's guitar, and will never forget it.


 

"I stood there for about an hour just staring at it, just thinking about how many hearts and ears were awakened by that Gibson J 160E guitar. Really magical stuff," says Cerphe, whose show is heard on Eco Planet Radio.

Cerphe was one of the participants when the Rock and Roll Hall opened its doors in Sept. 1995, displaying priceless artifacts used by legendary musicians.

Lennon's guitar, which was donated by wife Yoko Ono, had been personalized by the Beatles' leader.

"I really liked the artwork drawings that John did on the wooden body of the guitar, but it was the fretboard and the pick marks and the gouges on the wood and tuning keys that really fascinated me," says Cerphe...

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"NEW" Song by Paul McCartney + Season Premier of THE BIG BEAT!

Hey, Beatlemaniacs!

I've got good news and great news! Which do you want to hear first?!

-THE BIG BEAT w/ Bob Vincent returns to Mt ROCK next Friday, September 6 at 12pm PT/3pm ET.

- Paul McCartney has released a single from his upcoming NEW album. 12 NEW Paul songs hit stores in the UK and US on October 14 and 15, respectively. Check out the NEW song below!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RINGO!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RINGO STARR!

 

 

Jeff Lynne to Receive Star on The Walk Of Fame

From ELO.biz

 British singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer JEFF LYNNE was recently announced as a 2014 recipient of a star on the prestigious HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME.

The ELO frontman and founder, solo artist, Traveling Wilbury member and record producer (The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh) was one of seven honorees in the 2014 recording category.  Lynne will be inducted next year and will permanently be remembered on  the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside icons of film, television and radio.

"I'm thrilled to be recognized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and feel honored to be in the great company of some of my biggest heroes," says LYNNE of the honor. "Growing up in Birmingham, England, I never imagined my name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame--it really is fantastic..."  Read More...

Update: I'M ALIVE! (PLUS A GREAT FILM!)

Hello, Beatlemaniacs!

Boy, I've missed you all! I've been experiencing problems with accessing my blog to update. But all bugs seem to be fixed and now I can get back to all the Beatlemania this page can handle!

As of now THE BIG BEAT radio show is on hold due to some construction at 90.1 Mt ROCK, but I will return to the studio as soon as the dust settles. Don't fret if you cannot get 90.1 Mt ROCK on your FM tuner. You'll still be able to listen in on  MtRockRadio.com. I'll keep you all updated on the season premiere so you don't miss a beat!

In the meantime, get a load of this! I was perusing YouTube earlier today and came across a fantastic BBC documentary called 12 Hours to Please Me. This film celebrates the iconic 12-hour recording session of The Beatles' hit debut record Please Please Me. If that's not cool enough this film was recorded in Abbey Road Studios on the exact 50th anniversary of the recording of the original album.  The film does a fab job recreating the Beatles February 11, 1963 recording schedule down to the hour and minute that each song was originally recorded. Musicians young and young-at-heart came together for this special day to re-record The Beatles' Please Please Me repertoire of songs. Joss Stone, Stereophonics, Mick Hucknall, and I Am Kloot are just a few of the artists featured in this film. Even some of the people present in the studio 50 years ago returned to Abbey Road Studios to re-live the magic they witnessed, including engineer Richard Langham and NME reporter Alan Smith who requested to The Beatles that they close the day by recording "La Bamba".... "LA BAMBA?" Watch and see!

(Thank you to YouTube user GOSFanUSA for uploading this video)

Today In Beatles History: Brian Epstein Signs The Beatles

From BeatlesAgain.com

January 24, 1962: Signing of a management contract of Brian and the Beatles, at Brian's office at the NEMS record store in Whitechapel.

Beatles Music Enters The Public Domain

From The Examiner.com

The Beatles' song “Love Me Do” is available on compilations outside the United States thanks to a European law that allows it to enter the public domain after 50 years, Rolling Stone reported Friday.
The current law requires songs to be 50 years old to hit public domain, but a move is in the works to change the requirement to 70 years, which may not happen until later this year. According to Complete Music Update, the change will not affect “Love Me Do” and it will remain in public domain.

The song fell out of protection on
Dec. 31. There were efforts to change the requirement to 95 years as in the U.S., said CMU, but the agreement reached called for 70.

"Love Me Do" isn't the only song being affected in this way. The Beatles' "P.S. I Love You" is available on a similar collection, "The 1962 British Hit Parade: The B Sides Part Three September - December" And "Please Please Me," which just passed its 50th anniversary of release, could also find itself on a similar compilation in the future.

And there are many such British hit parade sets available as labels take advantage of the public domain law in the UK. In fact, the public domain compilations are all over Europe. There are two interesting ones relating to Elvis Presley that examine his musical roots...

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Paul McCartney Joins Nirvana!

From BBC America

Sir Paul will join Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear for a special performance at tonight’s benefit concert for families effected by Hurricane Sandy, which effectively means he’ll be playing the Kurt Cobain role, right down to being the sole left-handed guitarist in a group of northpaw rockers. JUST LIKE KURT OMG!

This odd union came out of a conversation between Sir Paul and Dave, in which they planned to do something special for the concert, which takes place tonight in Madison Square Garden. According to Sir Paul, Dave invited him to a rehearsal room to work out a new song in the time-honored tradition of rockers everywhere. They agree to meet up and “jam with some mates,” only Dave failed to reveal the exact significance (or indeed identity) of the mates in question.

Sir Paul told the Sun: “I didn’t really know who they were. They are saying how good it is to be back together. I said ‘Whoa? You guys haven’t played together for all that time?

“And somebody whispered to me ‘That’s Nirvana. You’re Kurt.’ I couldn’t believe it...”

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