Happy 71st Birthday George Harrison!

February 25, 1943, No. 12 Arnold Grove, Liverpool, England: George was born into the Harrison family to Harold and Louise. Peter, Harry, and Louise had a new baby brother. The baby was born at home, in a little "up and down" home in the outskirts of Liverpool, a city recently ravaged by German bombs. The smallest Harrison had big ears and resembled his older brothers and father. He was like any other boy. But what no one could know, nor expect, was that his small boy in a family of six in one of the poorer parts of a dirty port city, would become the legendary George Harrison, lead guitarist of The Beatles and a musician in his own right.

Though one of the more impoverished of the four, George was fortunate enough to know a wholesome family experience, his mother and father remaining married and in support of him throughout The Beatles' career and a couple of years after that (Louise passed away of cancer in 1970, followed by Harold in 1978). Louise played an important role in the development of George's fascination with music. George recounted in 1994 in The Beatles Anthology that Louise bought him his first guitar and would stay up late at night with him while he struggled with barre chords and bloody fingertips. Luckily for him, his skill on the guitar is what brought him into contact with another young boy around a year older named Paul McCartney and later John Lennon.

Paul and George were schoolmates at the Liverpool Institute for Boys, where they would frequently ride the bus into every morning. Together, they played guitar (Paul struggled a bit before he realized he was left-handed), listened to the music that was powering across the Atlantic from the United States, and traveled around to learn new chords from other boys similarly affected by the American rock scene. Paul and George's friendship is officially the beginning of The Beatles. In 1957, Paul introduced George to 17-year-old John Lennon, who was forming a band called The Quarrymen at the time. Paul was unable to play lead guitar and so he brought in his "little friend," the best guitarist he knew. The rest is history. George played "Raunchy" and three quarters of The Beatles were together.

The history of The Beatles is one that has been spelled out thousands upon thousands of times, on this blog, and elsewhere. I know it so well, I could tell it to you in my sleep. The impact of The Beatles cannot be understated, but it is so very important to remember that George was an individual in his own right, a musician of several different instruments, a deeply spiritual man dedicated to his family and his search for God, and a person in the pursuit for meaning in this life. George was a Beatle, but he was so much more than that, a fact that never lost significance for George himself. His musical and spiritual impact echoes across the globe and remains extraordinary for individuals, like me. Happy birthday, George.

          February 25, 1943-November 29, 2001

More photos! Linda McCartney's Retrospective photos released today

Paul McCartney's official website has announced the release of Linda's personal photographs from 1969 to 1997. The collection will be shown at Le Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier as an exhibition, but you can view most of the photos on the Paul's website. Just click the link below. More than The Beatles, Linda's camera documented her life with Paul, from concerts, to other music legends, to babies. Linda unfortunately passed away in 1997 of breast cancer, but Paul still pays tribute to her today through this exhibition.

http://paulmccartney.com/the-collection/27751-linda-mccartney-retrospective-1965-1997

Ringo to release his long-anticipated book, Photograph, this month

Who knew Ringo was a photographer, and a fantastic selfie-photographer at that? This month, never-before-seen personal photos that Ringo took of his band will be released in a hard-cover volume, Photograph. If you're interested, you can pay about $4,000 for a signed copy. If only…

Rolling Stone can tell you all about it below.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/ringo-starrs-lost-beatles-photo-album-20131108

In honor of John…Strawberry Fields Forever (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967)

In honor of George…Song of the Day: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles, 1968)

Ladies and gentlemen…THE BEATLES!

"The city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool, who call themselves The Beatles. Now tonight, you're going to twice be entertained by them, right now and again in the second half of our show. Ladies and gentlemen….THE BEATLES! [insert screaming]"

That was it. That was the moment.

Ed Sullivan didn't know it, but he had just introduced the most legendary rock band in history and ushered in a new era of music, television, and culture. As John, Paul, George, and Ringo stood on that brightly lit stage, with appropriately placed cardboard arrows pointing to the area of about ten feet in radius, everything changed. And it was 50 years ago today.

Ten feet and thirty minutes rocked the world. 73 million people watched The Beatles bob up and down,    play songs written hastily on scraps of paper in the corner of a bus in between concerts, and (to the detriment of many a young female) shake their heads with a wild "OOOOO!" Criminals paused in their dark pursuits to watch four young guys from a city in England people barely even knew about. Parents, teenagers, politicians, everybody watched The Ed Sullivan Show. And for the boys, they were along for the ride. Though, I think they knew what they were doing.

The idea of The Beatles as a positive force in the United States was epitomized on Sunday, February 9, 1964 on CBS at 8 pm eastern time. Americans still reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that past November, flocked to see the new generation from England. The Beatles sang of young, innocent love, holding girls' hands, writing letters, and they did so with smiles on their faces and and an incredible amount of energy. The Beatles helped the United States to her feet, launching the second British Invasion of music and injecting a positive atmosphere into Americans in the process. 1964, effectively, can mark the beginning of the sweeping change that characterizes the 1960s. The world, namely the United States and Britain, were standing on the brink of counterculture and upheaval when The Beatles performed that Sunday night, and no one but probably The Beatles were aware of what was happening.

It was no mystery to the boys of the effect that they had. As the first band to break the barriers of the powerhouse of the American music industry, The Beatles were aware of the momentous nature of their visit to the States. Earlier that year, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," (christened as the song that launched the British Invasion) had reached number one in the American charts, something unheard of for music coming outside of the United States. The Beatles were ready for America, but America was not ready for The Beatles.

For those who can't come to terms with, what some have called the overexposure of The Beatles, from a purely historical perspective, at the very least, the significance  Fab Four's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show cannot be understated. Music, television (still a burgeoning medium in the mid 1960s), culture, and by extension politics was transformed almost instantaneously, one of the few times in history that such rapid change occurred. They say that the world can't change in one day, but it did. The Beatles blew everyone out of the water, especially that phrase. The world changed in thirty minutes.

Tonight, in honor of this incredible historical event, The Grammys will pay tribute to The Beatles in a two-hour special airing on CBS at 8 pm, the same time, network, and day that the performance originally aired half a century ago. Mark today as a day to remember in the future.

FEBRUARY 9, 1964

50 years ago today...

Here's the full Ed Sullivan performance of The Beatles, beginning on February 9, 1964.

Read an article about The Beatles' visit to the States from 1964!

Paperback writer.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/section/learning/general/onthisday/pdf/02071964article.pdf?smid=tw-nytimes?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=OT_PHT_20140207&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=0

There's a lot of good stuff out there folks...

The New York Times-and institution that witnessed this event-is paying its own form of tribute to The Beatles. The NY Times blog has posted an article with the personal album of Bill Epperidge, a photographer famous for such shots as the Robert Kennedy assassination and his renowned photo essay following the life of two drug addicts in New York City. But until recently, it wasn't known that Mr. Epperidge also captured one of the biggest moments in music history. This link will take you to the NY Times blog, where you can view Mr. Epperidge's photos and read about his once-in-a-lifetime experience with the Fab Four.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/the-beatles-visit-revisited/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=LE_TBV_20140207&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=1&

This day in 1964

On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York at the John F. Kennedy Airport to an audience of three thousand teenagers, mainly screaming girls. This is a clip from a news report that night.

This day in 1964

On February 6, 1964, the last ticket for The Beatles' first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show for that momentous Sunday night was sold. To that lucky person, I salute you. Just remember the rest of us who were born more than thirty years after this. In other news, the first Beatles wigs went on sale, though there was probably less demand than for a ticket to one of the most revolutionizing moments in music and television history. Look forward to February 9 and tune into CBS for a tribute to the four lads who shook the world.

What if the Beatles never were: an alternate history.

http://www.today.com/entertainment/what-if-beatles-never-were-ringo-starr-almost-moved-u-2D11999523

This day in 1964

On February 3, 1964, The Beatles went to the American embassy in Paris to get visas and work permits in anticipation of their first US tour. Americans were also getting ready for the visit. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and the album Meet the Beatles! were given a gold disc in the United States. The Beatles were a mere six days away from officially making history (the first of many such occasions) and entering the realm of music legends. February 9 marks the day the four humble boys from Liverpool, England performed to an audience of 73 million across the nation on The Ed Sullivan Show. On February 9, 2014, CBS will air a two-hour special honoring this achievement, on the same day, at the same time and on the same network that The Beatles performed in 1964. A half-century has passed since that Sunday night, but it remains important for Beatles history, music history, television history, but more importantly, cultural history. The British are coming! The British are coming!