NEW BEATLES SONG

Call me an old geezer, but something new from the Beatles is a cause for celebration, innit? The new song, Now and Then, will delight Beatle people, but mystery shrouds the project like potsmoke on St. Mark's Place. Some call it a hoax.

Not so, says Paul McCartney, and he is anxious to release it.


According to MOG, "It was rumored that when Yoko gave Paul the demos of "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" that were polished up later by Paul, George and Ringo for The Beatles Anthology sets in the mid-90's, she also gave Paul a third demo."

That demo was a Lennon composition called "Now and Then." After some work by the remaining bandmembers, here is the polished result.

What do you think? Is it real, or something to get hung about? Have a spot of tea and give it a listen:



Paul also wanted to release the unheard ‘Carnival of Light’, a 14-minute composition, but Harrison was against the plans.

I MET THE WALRUS

In 1969, 14-year-old Beatles fanatic Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrator James Braithwaite created an animated film using the original recording as the soundtrack. "I Met the Walrus" was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short.

HAPPY B-DAY, WENDY!

It's my girlfriend Wendy's birthday, so we have a couple favorites in her honor. First up, Madonna Louise Ciccone performs her first hit, a song that empowered young girls everywhere to leave pink bedrooms en masse and cross the borderline. Fortune favors the brave.

Second up, a rare rehearsal clip from The Concert for Bangla Desh with old friends George Harrison and Bob Dylan singing "If Not For You." And you know it's true.

Happy birthday, Wendy!

THE ALL-TRUE STORY OF THE TRAVELING WILBURYS

The Wilbury's Story, Part 1

Here's the story a super group that almost didn't happen. Fortunately, it did. George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne formed a loose old-timey band. George suggested they call themselves "The Trembling Wilburys." That was vetoed.

It started as a meal between Harrison, Orbison, and Lynne, and the guys went to Dylan's home studio in Malibu. George had left his guitar at Tom Petty's place, so Tom got involved. The plan was to make a B-side to Harrison's upcoming single, but the group worked so well together they decided to make an album. It went on to become a huge success and was nominated for Album of the Year.


The Wilbury's Story, Part 2

Sadly, it lost to Faith, by George Michael. Another huge Grammy blunder. "Don't Worry Be Happy" was awarded Song of the Year, a perfect anthem for the Reagan Era. While the Gala of Greed continued, the Wilburys hung out at the edge of town like scruffy outlaws, ready to rob the bank when the revelers finally drank themselves to sleep.



More on the name: According to Professor "Bobby" Sinfield, the name originates "from the various Wilbury Fairs which traveled Europe in Medieval times, titillating the populace with contemporary ballads, or were they rather derived from, “YE TRAVELING WILBURYS”, who were popular locksmiths during the Crusades and used to pick or unlock the jammed chastity belts"


The Wilbury's Story, Part 3

SPRINGTIME IS HERE!

Springtime is here, and we celebrate with Botticelli and The Beatles.
Botticelli gives us "Primavera" (Spring), and George Harrison sings "Here Comes the Sun" at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Since this benefit, one of the earliest concerts of it's kind, we've managed to eradicate war and famine.*


*That's not true, but don't you wish we could say that?