10 Things I Didn't Know About The Beatles
There was an excellent article on Paul McCartney in The New Yorker last month (only the abstract is available online). Granted, I'm no Beatles scholar, but there were an awful lot of things I didn't know about them.
1. Paul McCartney can't read music.
2. Neither could John Lennon.
3. McCartney met George Harrison on the school bus.
4. The name "The Beatles" is a play on The Crickets, Buddy Holly's band.
5. In their first year of friendship, McCartney estimates that he and Lennon wrote more than 100 songs.
6. Between 1963 and the end of 1965, the Beatles recorded six albums.
7. Until 1969 the band's royalty rate was 39 cents per LP sold.
8. It wasn't Yoko Ono who broke up the band so much as it was an intra-band dispute over a change in management.
9. McCartney now owns the Buddy Holly music catalog.
10. As well as the music for Annie, Guys and Dolls, and Grease.
Paul McCartney wrote John Lennon a letter (in 1984, after Lennon's death) on the occasion of Lennon's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a great letter.
1. Paul McCartney can't read music.2. Neither could John Lennon.
3. McCartney met George Harrison on the school bus.
4. The name "The Beatles" is a play on The Crickets, Buddy Holly's band.
5. In their first year of friendship, McCartney estimates that he and Lennon wrote more than 100 songs.
6. Between 1963 and the end of 1965, the Beatles recorded six albums.
7. Until 1969 the band's royalty rate was 39 cents per LP sold.
8. It wasn't Yoko Ono who broke up the band so much as it was an intra-band dispute over a change in management.
9. McCartney now owns the Buddy Holly music catalog.
10. As well as the music for Annie, Guys and Dolls, and Grease.
Paul McCartney wrote John Lennon a letter (in 1984, after Lennon's death) on the occasion of Lennon's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a great letter.
I read that one too...great article!
ReplyDeleteI am a HUGE Beatles fan, and I knew most of the things you listed, but I had never read that letter. Thanks for bringing it to my attention because it was lovely.
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