Beatle news briefs: McCartney Halifax reports begin before show ends

July 11, 9:21 PMBeatles ExaminerSteve Marinucci

Previous Next

7 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Beatles Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

What we posted Saturday:

• EXCLUSIVE!: Warren Zanes talks about George Harrison and the Quiet Beatle's new CD
• More from Paul McCartney's Halifax soundcheck
• Paul McCartney Halifax soundcheck videos

The Warren Zanes interview is a great read. Zanes, a former member of the Del Fuegos, wrote the liner notes for "Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison."  He talks about the album, George's music and reveals a very cool story about a meeting the two had.

News from the McCartney Halifax show isn't sitting around and waiting. The Halifax soundcheck videos in our earlier posts showed up on the internet very quickly after. (Paul's website also has a rehearsal picture.) But it wasn't limited to those. The ones here are from during the show Saturday, taken from a nearby balcony. Above is "Flaming Pie." Below is "My Love." And we're sure more are on the way.

And not just videos, but news stories as well. The Canadian Press uploaded this story on the show after it started saying it opened with "Drive My Car." The story featured interviews with fans from the U.S. and Canada.  And this story from the Chronicle-Herald features Brenda Spencer, who we profiled in an earlier column for her Beatle-styled wedding. (You  can see a clip from the wedding here.)

Newsweek has an essay called "A McCartney Tour Guide" that doesn't say much more than Paul should put together more challenging setlists with more of his good newer material. There's something to be said for that, certainly, but there's nothing like hearing the old stuff in concert by the guy who did it, even if you have heard it a thousand times elsewhere. That was one of the things that we came away with after the show at the Joint in Las Vegas. Surprisingly, the author, Seth Colter Walls, criticizes putting "Mrs. Vandebilt" in recent sets. That was one of the best additions in a long time because it was so unexpected. And Paul clearly seemed to enjoy doing it again. A music critic once called McCartney "the best Beatle cover band in the world." Though some might, we don't see that as an insult at all.  And as Walls himself writes, "Selecting tunes from McCartney's back pages for a two-hour show is a difficult task—but, as they say, it's one of those good kinds of problems."

If you're speculating why Mark Lewisohn's name isn't on the credits for the remastered CD projects, wonder no longer. We contacted Lewisohn Saturday. His Beatles biography project is taking up his time. In fact, he told us,

"It’s vital that the three-volume Beatles History I’m writing is not only independent of any influence but seen to be so. When I started it I told Neil Aspinall that I felt I should no longer do any bits of work for Apple. I don’t want the project to be seen as authorised any more than the Beatles do. I’ve done just a couple of small below-the-radar things for Apple since then, and I’ve not been involved in the remastered CDs in any way. Apple have used other people, and quite rightly, too."

Lost amidst all the Michael Jackson furor was this, mentioned by Casey Piotrowski of "The Beatles Show":

"Industry people were agog by the numbers Michael Jackson's funeral drew...Spread over a number of networks, Jacko's send-off was watched by more than 31 million people.  (For comparison...President Reagan and Princess Diana's funeral both drew bigger "audiences".) To compare, The Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan was watched...on only one network...by 73 million people...with America's population being somewhere around half of what it is today.  Keep those numbers handy when you hear someone talking about Michael's impact."

Yoko Ono tweeted a message Saturday directing people to her Imagine Peace website to sign the Oneness Day petition. In the campaign, according to a statement on the page,  "Humanity’s Team is collecting 50,000 signatures to persuade the United Nations to declare a Oneness Day, a day set aside and embraced by individuals, communities and nations for humanity to celebrate, discuss and experience our commonality, while still acknowledging and respecting our beautiful cultural diversities…a day to unite in Oneness for the greater good of the Human Family." It says those who have already signed include Marianne Williamson, Joe Vitale, Deepak Chopra and Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The new edition of "Dennis Mitchell's 'Breakfast With the Beatles" at www.beatlesradioshow.com features a tribute to Peter Sellers Beatles style.

Bill King of Beatlefan says issue #178, just out, includes a cover shot of Paul McCartney in concert taken by Rick Glover, plus an in-depth fan scene report on the concerts at the Coachella festival and the Hard Rock's Joint in Las Vegas and a look ahead at his summer concerts. The issue also features previews of "The Beatles: Rock Band" and the Beatles remasters, a 30th anniversary retrospective on Wings' "Back to the Egg" album, part one of an interview with John Lennon biographer Philip Norman and Tom Frangione's DIY alternative to "Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison." For more information, go to the magazine's website.

WNTI's "The Beatles Hour" on Wednesday will feature "Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison." (Thanks to HwyCDRRev.)

If you're not with us already, join us on Twitter and Facebook.

• Subscribe to us: Have our Beatles Examiner columns sent to your inbox. Click SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL on the button above this column. It's free. (And we won't spam you or give out your information.)
• Bookmark us: http://www.examiner.com/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner
• Post this story to Digg, Twitter or Facebook.
• Make us your home page
• Add us as a Favorite Examiner (see above)
• Visit us at our TV on DVD Examiner column.
• Take us mobile at www.examiner.com/mobile.html
• Write to us: beatlesexaminer@gmail.com
• Become an Examiner (for referral, use #2082)
• Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. 
• Previous columns are on this page.
• For more Beatle news and history, see  Abbeyrd's Beatles Page and Beatle News Briefs.