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The Beatles‘ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” inspired way too many covers over the past 60 years. One of them came from a fellow British Invasion star who completely missed the song’s appeal. The cover in question almost feels like a joke.

Someone took the rock out of The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’

Let’s rewind to the early 1960s. American pop music became a lot more middle-of-the-road and left rock ‘n’ roll in the dust. Nobody remembers much of the music that came out during this time. Then, The Beatles injected new life into the radio with rock ‘n’ roll hits like “She Loves You,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” This sets the stage for many more British acts to find success in the United States.

One of those acts was Petula Clark, most known for her hits “Downtown,...

Alvin Rakoff, the Canadian-born filmmaker who directed Laurence Olivier in A Voyage Round My Father, has died. He was 97.

His death was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by his longtime publicist, Nick Pourgourides. He passed away on Oct. 12 surrounded by family at home in Chiswick, a neighborhood in London.

Rakoff as a writer, director and producer of over 100 TV, film and stage productions, as well as novels, directed Olivier and co-stars Alan Bates and Jane Asher in the 1982 TV drama A Voyage Round My Father, a film written by John Mortimer and which earned the director his second Emmy Award.

Alvin and Olivier also worked together on Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson and A Talent for Murder, both shot in 1983. The two-time Emmy Award winner also gave a young Sean Connery his first leading role in the 1957 film Requiem for a Heavyweight, and Alan Rickman as a young actor was...

Alvin Rakoff, the veteran Canadian filmmaker best known for pics like the 1982 feature A Voyage Round My Father starring Laurence Olivier, died in Chiswick, London, October 12 surrounded by his family. He was 97.

Rakoff’s former personal agent confirmed the news with Deadline this morning.

Born on on February 6, 1927, in Toronto Rakoff was the third of seven children. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a psychology degree, Rakoff spent time as a news reporter. His first job as a writer was with the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), which later sponsored Rakoff to visit the UK. Within days of arriving, he sold his first fiction script to the BBC. He was soon invited to join the BBC’s director’s training course and, the following year at the age of twenty-six, Rakoff became the youngest producer/director in the BBC drama department.

As Rakoff once recalled: “I trained at the BBC as a director-producer.

When two iconic figures like Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Paul McCartney cross paths, the story is bound to become the stuff of legends. Long before the actor became known for his role in the X-Men franchise as Charles Xavier, he got a chance to live his dream, thanks to the now 82-year-old.

Patrick Stewart in X-Men / Credits: 20th Century Studios

Although both the actor and the Beatles star had been on two extremely different paths, they once intersected when the now 84-year-old had just begun his career in theatre. In a twist of fate, the Star Trek and X-Men star met the music legend in the most unexpected and humorous way.

How Sir Patrick Stewart met Paul McCartney

Almost a year ago, Sir Patrick Stewart wrote a memoir about his extraordinary life. From stories about how he fell in love with acting to the struggles of the spotlight, his memoir,...

Alistair Taylor was the assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein and a “fixer” for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. He continued his work with the band after Epstein’s death and did all he could to make life easy for them. While he said he was close enough with each Beatle that he didn’t feel as though he was their employee, he was particularly friendly with one in particular. Taylor shared why he liked McCartney so much.

Brian Epstein’s assistant shared why Paul McCartney was his favorite Beatle

Taylor worked closely with each of the Beatles during his tenure with the band. People frequently asked him and his colleagues which musician they liked best.

“Somebody once asked Mal [Evans], who was his favorite Beatle?” Taylor recalled in the book All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines.

The actor on night terrors, Brideshead Revisited, nearly becoming a doctor and Starbucks in Cobham

If you were going to bake a Jane Asher cake that best summed you up, what would you bake and how would you decorate it? TopTramp

Summing somebody up is a tall order. I do love ginger cake, particularly the dark, Jamaican ginger type. I would make it nice and sticky, then obviously it’s got to be iced and decorated, maybe with little theatre masks and TV screen decorations to sum up the work side of my life. I guess I should put a cake on a cake because cakes are a big part of my life. So: a tiered cake? The cakes that delight me the most are those made by my grandchildren, which come smothered in sprinkles. I have all different kinds of decorations, so whenever my grandchildren are here, they pile it on.

Stars: Joe Wilkinson, Laura Aikman, Jane Asher | Written and Directed by Warren Fischer

I always like to give British comedy a go because, in amongst plenty of poor shows and films has been a whole lot of great stuff. British comedy often feels a little bit different from many other countries, so with A Family Affair and debut writer and director Warren Fischer, I was hoping for the new British comedy director to take the World by storm. The story goes like this:

“A cash-strapped hotel manager (Joe Wilkinson) is forced to stave off interest from wealthy buyers at a public auction whilst hosting his in-laws on their wedding anniversary.”

I was also glad to see Joe Wilkinson on the cast list, and he does indeed play one of the main roles as Edward. After previously enjoying his work on Him and Her, and Ricky Gervais’ Derek and After Life,...

Actors as gifted as Jane Asher and Joe Wilkinson can’t do much with jokes about a failing guest house 40 years past their use-by date

A car door opens; the elderly gent in the driver’s seat has popped a pill for erectile dysfunction (brand name Super Stallion). He’s at his son’s guest house to scatter the ashes of his wife – and he’s brought along a date, a gorgeous young blonde (“she’s my carer”). The pill has worked its magic, so as the man gets out of the car, he reaches for a jacket to cover the bulge in his trousers. At this point you half expect a blast of canned laughter. But this is not a sitcom from 1986, even though the script contains the same tired gags and stereotypes that should have died long ago.

A Family Affair wastes the talents of Joe Wilkinson (excellent...

What will you ask the brilliant actor, author, cake decorator and star of new film A Family Affair?

Jane Asher has been on our screens for almost 73 years – her first role was aged five, in Mandy, and she turns 78 on 5 May. But it was aged 17 she really shot to big screen prominence, opposite Vincent Pryce in The Masque of the Red Death.

Then, two years later, in 1966, came Alfie, in which she plays a hitchhiker who becomes the latest in Michael Caine’s litany of conquests; in 1970 she was the lead in Jerzy Skolimowski’s suburban psychodrama Deep End.

"Today better go off without a hitch." Strike Media has revealed an official trailer for a British indie comedy titled A Family Affair, made by filmmaker Warren Fischer who coms from South Africa. This is set to debut in the UK first on VOD this May, after originally opening on VOD in South Africa back in February this year. It's only 72 minutes! A financially distressed guest house manager is forced to stave off interest from wealthy buyers at a public auction while hosting his in-laws for their wedding anniversary and his own difficult father on the same weekend. Starring Joe Wilkinson, Laura Aikman, and Jane Asher. "On a superficial level, the film is a farcical romp but at its core, this is a story about love, loss, reconciliation and the complexities of family." There's still no US release set yet, though it'll probably end up on VOD at some point this year.

The Beatles’ longtime producer George Martin worked with them on each album they put out in the 1960s. He was a key part of their success and got to know them well throughout their collaboration. Their antics, particularly in the early 1960s, grew familiar to him. Still, they sometimes pushed Martin too far. He shared what they did to let him down for the very first time.

The Beatles frustrated George Martin while recording songs in German

In the early 1960s, The Beatles traveled to Paris for a concert. While they were there, Martin booked them studio time to record German language versions of “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” A record company executive believed there was no chance the songs would sell in Germany if they were in English.

“I was disinclined to believe this, but that’s what he said and I told The Beatles,...

The Beatles were, overall, better at writing ballads than any of their contemporaries. Despite this, The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road” is not one of their prouder moments. Here’s an exploration of why the track just isn’t as good as some of their other slow songs.

The Beatles’ ‘The Long and Winding Road’ feels disingenuous

The Beatles gave us some of the best ballads of all time, such as “Yesterday,” “Something,” “And I Love Her,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Hey Jude,” and “Let It Be.” Despite its popularity, many critics just don’t enjoy “The Long and Winding Road” as much as the other songs.

That might be because the track is so sentimental. Rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to be cool, and “The Long and Winding Road” is as emotive as a Carpenters hit. Of course, the same could be said of most Beatles ballads.

The...

The Beatles’ songs from A to Z are a study of how the band changed the course of pop music. The songwriting, melodies, instrumentals, and recording technqiues established the band as among the most influential in music history. But for all their success, The Beatles remained active for a relatively short period of time.

In 10 years, The Beatles released 14 albums in what’s considered their core catalog. It includes just over 200 songs from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Some are much more memorable than others, but every Beatles song from A to Z has its own story and interesting facts to keep listeners entertained even when the music stops.

Beatles songs starting with ‘A’ “Across the Universe” The song holds a Guinness World Record that involves outer space. “Act Naturally” It replaced a “weird” Ringo Starr song initially meant for the album. “All I’ve Got...

As a musical unit, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr enjoyed the most unique experience in popular entertainment. While Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra similarly spent the most exciting periods of their careers circumnavigating hordes of rabid fans, persistent, compulsory photo-ops, and suitcases of ticket sales cash, they still broke through as solo song interpreters. The Beatles, by contrast, became a global phenomenon as a group, and a very busy one, in and out of the studio, mostly writing their own music. In keeping with the musical unit’s consistent commitment to innovation, Apple Corps. and Sony Pictures announced a truly revolutionary take on their cinematic biographies. Director Sam Mendes will helm four separate films on the Beatles’ story, each told from the perspective of the individual players.

All four features will roll out theatrically in 2027. This may appear excessive, but it is the only way to cover the narrative properly.

Horror movie star Vincent Price and classic rock god Paul McCartney were two very different types of celebrities in the 1960s. However, Paul showed up on the set of one of Price’s movies for personal reasons. The director of the movie had no idea who The Beatles were!

Paul McCartney was on the set of 1 of Vincent Price movie based on an Edgar Allan Poe story

From 1963 to 1968, Paul dated actor Jane Asher. Among horror fans, Asher is most known for her role in the classic The Masque of the Red Death, an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name. In the film. Price plays Prince Prospero, a wealthy Satanist living in a secluded castle while a disease called the Red Death ravages his country. Asher played Francesca, a Christian peasant whom he kidnaps.

The film was directed by B-movie king Roger Corman. In a 2021 interview with The Guardian,...

The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul is many things, but it’s not an album about Paul McCartney’s personal life. However, there are exceptions to every rule. One track from Rubber Soul is about Paul’s disillusionment with a 1960s movie star. Interestingly, Rubber Soul became a hit twice in the United Kingdom: once during the 1960s and once during the 1980s.

The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ was inspired by an actor who put her career over her personal life

From 1963 to 1968, Paul dated actor Jane Asher. She was most known for her roles in movies like Alfie, The Masque of the Red Death, and Deep End. Similar to John Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono, Paul’s relationship with Asher left a big impact on The Beatles’ lyrics, including those for “I’m Looking Through You.” In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed butting heads with Asher.

In the early years of The Beatles, Paul McCartney said the band was incredibly tight-knit. They lived, toured, and wrote music together. While each of them had serious long-term relationships in the early years of the band, McCartney said their band relationships were more important to them. He admitted that this made them chauvinistic.

Paul McCartney said The Beatles were so tight-knit they could be ‘chauvinist’

In 1963, McCartney met Jane Asher, an actor. The couple dated for five years and McCartney lived with her at her parents’ home for a portion of this time. While he said it was a “good relationship,” she was not his primary focus. His bandmates were.

“To tell the truth, the women at that time got sidelined,” he said in The Beatles Anthology. “Now it would be seen as very chauvinist of us. Then it was like: ‘We are four miners who go down the pit.

This Christmas Eve on ITV, the festive spirit comes alive with “Love Your Christmas with Alan Titchmarsh” at 9:30 Am. Joining the charming host Alan Titchmarsh to kick off the celebration are the talented Brian Conley, the iconic Jason Donovan, and the lovely Jane Asher. Together, they set the stage for a morning of holiday cheer and joy.

The episode promises a delightful mix of heartwarming moments and lively discussions. Viewers can look forward to meeting a newborn calf celebrating its very first Christmas and gaining insights from horticulturalists Camilla Bassett-Smith and Jonathan Mosley on Christmas floral displays that hold a special place in their hearts. Additionally, the show serves up panto tipples to add a dash of merriment, and the Fisherman’s Friends take the stage to perform a festive classic, rounding out the perfect Christmas morning lineup.

Tune in on December 24, 2023, as “Love Your Christmas with Alan Titchmarsh” spreads warmth and holiday magic,...

Inspiration comes from unexpected places. Paul McCartney partially wrote The Beatles’ “Yesterday” on a car ride with a movie star. The movie star was sleeping when the gears in Paul’s mind started turning.

Paul McCartney wrote The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ in the presence of his sleeping girlfriend

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul talked about finishing “Yesterday” when he was in a car with Jane Asher, his girlfriend. Asher is an actor known for her roles in Alfie starring Michael Caine and The Masque of the Red Death starring Vincent Price.

“It was a long, hot, dusty drive,” he said. “Jane was sleeping but I couldn’t, and when I’m sitting that long in a car, I either manage to get to sleep or my brain starts going. I remember mulling over the tune ‘Yesterday,’ and suddenly getting these little one-word openings to the verse.

Paul McCartney revealed he came up with the melody of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” when he was at a movie star’s house. Paul had a very close relationship with that star. In retrospect, Paul wasn’t sure how long it took for him to finish writing “Yesterday.”

A reporter once told Paul McCartney that The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ took a year to finish

During a 2009 interview with Clash, Paul was asked why it took a year to finish “Yesterday.” “Was it?” Paul said. “I don’t remember it taking a year.

“It must have been from when I actually had the melody to when I’d finished it all,” he added. “I dreamed the melody one day in London when I was staying at Jane Asher’s house, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I was staying there and I woke up one morning with the song in my head.

Paul McCartney revealed he came up with the melody of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” when he was at a movie star’s house. Paul had a very close relationship with that star. In retrospect, Paul wasn’t sure how long it took for him to finish writing “Yesterday.”

A reporter once told Paul McCartney that The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ took a year to finish

During a 2009 interview with Clash, a Paul was asked why it took a year to finish “Yesterday.” “Was it?” Paul said. “I don’t remember it taking a year.

“It must have been from when I actually had the melody to when I’d finished it all,” he added. “I dreamed the melody one day in London when I was staying at Jane Asher’s house, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I was staying there and I woke up one morning with the song in my head.

Paul McCartney was the final Beatle to get married when he tied the knot in 1969. While one might expect to see pictures of the McCartneys celebrating with The Beatles and their wives, these images don’t exist. The other Beatles did not attend McCartney’s wedding. When reflecting on this, McCartney said he couldn’t remember if he’d invited them. Still, he understood why they didn’t attend.

Paul McCartney said Beatles relations were at an all-time low when he got married

In 1969, John Lennon announced he wanted to leave The Beatles, and McCartney got married. The band had been engaged in an icy battle over business affairs and their music, so group morale was not high. While McCartney enjoyed his wedding, he did so without the company of his longtime bandmates.

“I really don’t remember whether or not I invited any of the band to the wedding,...

When Linda McCartney first met Paul McCartney, his house was such a disaster that to call it a mess would be kind. According to Beatles associate Tony Bramwell, McCartney’s house had fallen into disarray after his breakup with longtime girlfriend Jane Asher. His relationship with Linda helped him reorganize his life and living situation.

Linda McCartney helped pull Paul McCartney together

After McCartney and Asher broke up, he lived in a house with a rotating group of women.

“There were several semi-clad girls walking about the house,” writer Barry Miles recalled in his book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. “‘It’s terrible,’ he said, gesturing. ‘The birds are always quarreling about something. There’s three living here at the moment.’ The jostling for position must have been something to see.”

Paul and Linda McCartney | Msi/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

The house was also a mess. Bramwell could...

John Lennon gave countless interviews in his lifetime and admitted that he sometimes lied to journalists. Some of his lies served to amuse himself, and others distracted from persistent lines of questioning. Journalists constantly asked him about the process of writing songs with Paul McCartney. Lennon grew sick of this, so he began to spread the mistruth that he had never really written with McCartney.

John Lennon revealed that he lied about his writing process

During The Beatles’ early years, Lennon and McCartney sat in a room together in close collaboration on songs. As their years in the band wore on, their partnership grew more fraught. Because of this, Lennon began lying and telling people they had never actually written together.

“I said that, but I was lying. [Laughs],” Lennon said in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview With John Lennon and Yoko Ono by David Sheff.

Stars: Bill Fellows, Jane Asher, Michael McKell, Lucy-Jane Quinlan, Dylan Reeves-Fellows, Sharon Lawrence, Caleb J. Burton | Written and Directed by David Bryant

It’s never too early to review Christmas movies is it?! In fact, this isn’t the first Christmas horror movie I’ve reviewed for Nerdly this year, but now it’s November expect a few more. Splinter shows a man whose wife and son were murdered over Christmas, and he has now become a recluse. Despite Christmas now being long gone, the decorations and tree are still up, and he believes something or someone is watching him. Is it the ghosts of his wife and son, or something much worse?

Director David Bryant does a good job of making you forget about the movie’s low budget. He keeps the film character-driven, with plenty of dialogue and a strong story. It’s a brave move in...

The run-up to Christmas and our Bristol production of The Happiest Days of Your Life seemed to drag on forever. I enjoyed doing the play, lightweight as it was. But my life was changing — Sheila, the RSC — and I wanted to get on with it.

Fortunately, we had a wonderful cast, and in it was a talented and pretty young actress with red hair named Jane Asher. Everyone knew that Jane was dating Paul McCartney, but we were all very circumspect around her and careful never to mention his name.

John Lennon was the first Beatle to get married, and Paul McCartney was the last. Though McCartney was in a relationship with Jane Asher for most of the 1960s, he felt their dynamic was more relaxed than it would have been if they were married. He said that Lennon also recognized this and was jealous of it.

Paul McCartney Said John Lennon was jealous of his relationship

In 1963, McCartney and Asher, a London-based actor, began dating. McCartney moved into her family’s home later that year, and they continued dating until 1968. Though McCartney and Asher lived together for most of their relationship, he felt a great deal of freedom. He continued to date around while they were together.

“Living in the Asher house gave me the base and the freedom and the independence,” McCartney said in the book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles. “That, alongside all the other things,...

After the early 1960s, John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn’t collaborate as closely when writing Beatles songs. Still, they gave each other their opinions and helped finish pieces. McCartney asked Lennon for help completing “Eleanor Rigby.” Lennon explained that he was hurt when his bandmate asked him to work on it.

John Lennon said Paul McCartney can’t take all the credit for ‘Eleanor Rigby’

Lennon agreed that “Eleanor Rigby” was one of McCartney’s more complex songs, but he said this was partly thanks to him.

“Ah, the first verse was his and the rest are basically mine,” Lennon said in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview With John Lennon and Yoko Ono. “But the way he did it … Well, he knew he had a song. But by that time he didn’t want to ask for my help, and we were sitting around...

Paul McCartney married his first wife, Linda, in 1969. The pair dove right in when it came to dating. McCartney invited her across the ocean to London to spend time with him and she quickly agreed. When she arrived at his home, though, she was a bit startled by what she found. According to McCartney, she found his living situation shocking.

Paul McCartney shocked Linda McCartney with his living conditions

When McCartney broke up with his longtime girlfriend Jane Asher, he reached out to Linda. They’d met before and he was free to spend time with her now that he was single. She agreed to fly from New York to London to see him. When she arrived, she couldn’t help but feel surprised by her famous boyfriend’s home.

“I got there and I arrived at this house and it was a dark house, a lot of brown, a lot of dark colours,...

Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “Eleanor Rigby” has a “madcap connection” to a character from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Despite this, the Psycho character doesn’t actually have much in common with the protagonist of “Eleanor Rigby.” Notably, John Lennon said the hit was inspired by the music of a famous composer.

Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ inspired The Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ lyrically and musically

During a 2021 interview with The New Yorker, Paul discussed the origins of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” “It did feel like a breakthrough for me lyrically — more of a serious song,” he recalled. “[Producer] George Martin had introduced me to the string-quartet idea through ‘Yesterday.’ I’d resisted the idea at first, but when it worked I fell in love with it. So I ended up writing ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with a string component in mind. When I took the song to George, I said that, for accompaniment, I...

Tl;Dr:

One of Paul McCartney’s solo songs was the result of a “happy accident.” He compared the tune to The Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping” from the album Revolver. Paul’s solo song appeared on an album that became No. 1 hit decades into his career.

One of Paul McCartney‘s solo songs starts with drums. Those drums were supposed to be in a different part of the track. Subsequently, Paul compared that solo song to The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” for a very specific reason.

1 of Paul McCartney’s solo songs has a random opening but the singer likes it anyway

During a 2021 interview with The New Yorker, Paul discussed accidents in his music. “I always think of things like these as being happy accidents,” he said. “Like when someone played the tape machine backward in Abbey Road and the four of us stopped in our tracks and went,...

Hallmark Movies Now is a lot more than just Christmas in July selections. All summer and into the fall, the on-demand streaming platform will be offering original movies and TV series designed to help viewers relax and unwind from the pressures of life with a heartwarming tale.

From new episodes of the long-running series “When Comes the Heart” to movies starring beloved Hallmark Channel alumni like Lacey Chabert, Danica McKellar, Erin Krakow, and many more. Keep reading to see which new titles are coming to Hallmark Movies Now this August!

7-Day Free Trial $5.99 / month Hallmark Movies Now via amazon.com What Shows and Movies Are Coming to Hallmark Movies Now in August 2023? ‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 10 | Season Premiere Aug. 3, New Episodes Sunday at 9 p.m. Et Starring Erin Krakow, Pascale Hutton, Jack Wagner, Kavan Smith, Chris McNally, Kevin McGarry, Andrea Brooks, and more

In the aftermath of the shocking ninth...

Jimi Hendrix met Lithofayne (Faye) Pridgon outside the Apollo theater. He was trying to get backstage to talk with Sam Cooke, who he thought could help his career. Hendrix and Pridgon took a quick liking to each other. Here’s how their whirlwind romance began.

Who was Faye Pridgon?

Pridgon was born in Dirty Spoon, Georgia. She was the daughter of a professional dancer and reportedly the illegitimate great granddaughter of Henry Ford, according to Wild Thing by Philip Norman. At 15 years old she had an affair with Little Willie John, who’s known for the song “Fever.” At 16, she was romantically connected to Same Cooke, which is how she got Hendrix backstage that night at the Apollo. It also didn’t hurt that she was best friends with Etta James.

When Hendrix met Pridgon, she was two years older than him. She wore a tight pegged skirt and higher-than-high heels.

Paul McCartney and Jane Asher dated for five years. For about three of those years, the Beatle lived with his girlfriend and her family. He adored their family dynamic. Shacking up with his then-girlfriend was a distinct pleasure that broadened the musician’s horizons.

How Paul McCartney started living at Jane Asher’s family home

At the beginning of their relationship, McCartney would always check himself into a hotel after visiting with Asher and her family or rush off to catch a flight out of Heathrow for Liverpool. But he hardly stayed over.

“One night, when he missed his flight, Mrs. Asher graciously offered the guest room to Paul, just a flight of stairs away from where Jane slept,” reads The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story of The Beatles by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. “It was, after all, foolish of him to rent hotel rooms in London all the time.

Even in the beginning, the Beatles were hugely popular. Though it seemed they were popular everywhere but London. They experienced enormous recording success, sold-out concerts, and crazed fans wherever they went. And yet, the London press hardly covered them and they couldn’t book any of the big theaters in the city. Beatles manager Brian Epstein had a theory as to why.

The Grade Brothers

Epstein believed he and the Beatles were being blacklisted by three brothers: Lew and Leslie Grade, and Bernard Delfont. The Grades were highly involved and influential in the English entertainment business.

Lew Grade, who later became Lord Grade, owned the Associated Television Corporation, Britain’s largest independent producer of TV programs. He personally produced the UK’s most popular variety show, Sunday Night at the Palladium. For an act to gain national recognition at the time, it was crucial they appear on Snatp.

Leslie Grade...

Paul McCartney became famous for creating hit songs with The Beatles. He said writing songs with John Lennon was so easy that it was almost effortless. The pair inspired each other, but McCartney found other muses in his life. Jane Asher was one. His relationship with his first serious girlfriend didn’t end well, but Paul’s photo exhibit shows he has never forgotten his first love.

Paul McCartney dedicated part of his photo exhibit to his first love, Jane Asher

Asher was a notable child actor before she met Paul in April 1963. That is to say, she was used to notoriety. Still, she stepped into a blazing hot spotlight in her relationship with Paul. At one point, the British paparazzi swarmed the couple at a theater while they watched a show.

The healthy relationship couldn’t survive the strain of two young, famous, working entertainers.

McCartney and Asher’s...

John Lennon was influenced by many early American rock n’ roll stars and sometimes found his influences taking control of his style. He once got in trouble for ripping off Chuck Berry and went through a phase where he tried to emulate Bob Dylan. One song by The Beatles featured John Lennon playing energetically on the piano in a style similar to Jerry Lee Lewis.

John Lennon performed like Jerry Lee Lewis on The Beatles’ ‘I’m Down’

The Beatles first released “I’m Down” in 1965 as the B-side to “Help!”. The track is credited to Lennon-McCartney but was primarily written by Paul McCartney, who wrote the song while living in his girlfriend Jane Asher’s house. McCartney sings his lungs out on the song and was inspired by Little Richard’s powerful vocals.

“A lot of people were fans of Little Richard, so I used to sing his stuff,...

One of the first girls Paul McCartney ever dated as The Beatles rose to fame was Jane Asher. Here’s the story of how the musician and actress met.

Jane Asher was an accomplished actor when she met Paul McCartney

Before Asher, McCartney dated his fair share of Beatles super fans. But no one he shared a serious connection with. Asher was different. At 17, when the two met, she still lived at home with her wealthy parents, a psychiatrist and professional musician, according to the Beatles biography The Love You Make by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. Before the Beatles, McCartney probably wouldn’t have had a chance with a girl like Asher.

While McCartney was part of one of the most popular bands of the day with his star only rising, Asher was by no means a nobody when she met the Beatle.

Asher appeared in her first film at the age of five.

By the mid-1960s, every Beatle but Paul McCartney had gotten married. They moved to estates in the suburbs of London and commuted into the city when they needed to work. While McCartney was in a long-term relationship, he hadn’t yet taken the next step. His relationship status, coupled with the fact that he still lived in the city, made McCartney feel much hipper than his bandmates.

Paul McCartney felt he was hipper than his Beatles bandmates

John Lennon was the first Beatle to get married in 1962. Ringo Starr came next in 1965, followed closely by George Harrison in 1966. While Harrison and his first wife, Pattie Boyd, did not have children, both Lennon and Starr did. McCartney, though, had yet to tie the knot. He was in a long-term relationship with Jane Asher, and while he proposed, they ended their engagement in 1968.

The Beatles | Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images

McCartney also...

Ask a hundred Beatles fans their favorite song, and you might get a hundred different answers. It’s a testament to the band’s songwriting prowess. Even their lousy songs became fan favorites and performed well on the charts. One of The Beatles’ first big hits was so good that Peter Asher called it the greatest song he had ever heard.

(l-r) Paul McCartney and Peter Asher | Mirrorpix via Getty Images Peter Asher called The Beatles’ song ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ the greatest he had ever heard, and we get it

The Beatles relied on cover songs during their early days. Other artists’ songs comprised their Hamburg, Germany, residency setlists. Even their debut album, Please Please Me, went heavy on covers. Once John Lennon and Paul McCartney discovered how easy writing songs together was, The Beatles’ career really took off.

Paul lived with the family of his girlfriend,...

Paul McCartney and John Lennon spent their twenties as close friends and collaborators. They got to know each other and their families well. Because of this, McCartney witnessed the moment Lennon and his first wife Cynthia’s marriage fell apart. While Lennon might have described it as an accident, McCartney saw it as a moment of casual cruelty from which the marriage could not recover.

Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Cynthia Lennon, and John Lennon | Pa Images via Getty Images Paul McCartney said he witnessed the moment John Lennon’s 1st marriage ended

In 1967, The Beatles attended a seminar on Transcendental Meditation in Bangor, Wales. George Harrison had encouraged the band and their wives to attend. They all accepted, with the exception of Ringo Starr’s wife, Maureen, who had just given birth.

When they arrived at the train station, a swell of Beatles fans met them. The band fought their way through the train,...

Paul McCartney has heard it all during his career. There has been tons of praise — with The Beatles, Wings, and solo — but also detractors. One musician called Paul and John Lennon idiots but covered one of their songs anyway. Sometimes the criticism came from those closest to him. Beatles press officer Tony Barrow said Paul craved constant approval and was “long on promises, short on performance” in his efforts to satisfy fans.

Paul McCartney | kpa/United Archives via Getty Images Paul McCartney craved public approval and was ‘long on promises, short on performance’ when he tried to get it

Fans called Paul the cute Beatle. The bassist seemed to smile perpetually. It made him seem like the most approachable and fun-loving member of the group.

According to Barrow, it was by design.

In his book 150 Glimpses of The Beatles, author Craig Brown quotes Barrow comparing John and Paul. Lennon was the dominant big personality.

Tl;Dr:

A star said watched The Beatles write “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on his family’s piano. He discussed why the tune became stuck in his head. The tune hit No. 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom. The Beatles | Central Press / Stringer

A star heard The Beatles‘ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” before anyone else. Subsequently, the star revealed what he thought of the song when he first heard it. Notably, he had an interesting connection to Paul McCartney.

The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ came together in a celebrity’s ‘music room’

Peter Asher is a pop star who has half of the pop duo Peter and Gordon. The duo is known for songs like “Lady Godiva,” “Woman,” and “A World Without Love.” Notably, Asher is the brother of Jane Asher, who dated Paul for much of The Beatles’ time together.

The Beatles set an impossibly high bar for groups that followed them. They had dozens of top-100 hits during their brief but prolific career, and even when they abandoned songs that didn’t work, they performed well for other artists. Several of The Beatles’ non-album singles became incredibly successful. Let’s look at five of them that went to No. 1.

Note: We considered only original songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts and never appeared on a studio album during The Beatles’ active years. Songs with more weeks at No. 1 rank higher than songs with more time on the charts.

(l-r) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, George Martin, and John Lennon | Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images 5. ‘Paperback Writer’ Weeks on chart: 10 Weeks at No. 1: 2

“Paperback Writer” arrived in May 1966. The tune became an interesting nexus in The Beatles’ sound. It mixed beautiful vocal harmonies that...

Paul McCartney and John Lennon go way back. They lived in the same neighborhood as teenagers and started playing music together shortly after meeting one another. During those first few years, the duo wrote over 100 songs together. Today, those songs are lost. Here are two accounts of what happened to them, and a look back at the early days of Lennon and McCartney.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney | Fox Photos/Getty Images Young Paul McCartney and John Lennon were very different, but got along great

When McCartney met Lennon, they couldn’t have been more different. McCartney got good grades. He had a strong moral compass, bordering on self-righteous. Lennon, on the other hand, was a trouble-maker. He had emotional outbursts and could be cruel to his peers and authority figures alike. Plus, there was a two-year age difference between them. But the boys’ interests drew them together. They were both incredibly passionate about music,...

George Harrison created beautiful and experimental music with The Beatles. His best Fab Four songs are some of the greatest in the band’s catalog, and that happened despite his bandmates blocking his songwriting efforts from appearing on albums. The guitarist’s relationship with his fellow Beatles wasn’t always the best. You could say the same of Harrison’s personal life, such as the night in the late 1970s when George and Ronnie Wood swapped wives.

(l-r) Ronnie Wood, Johnny Cash, and George Harrison | KMazur/WireImage The night George Harrison and Ronnie Wood spent the night with the other’s wife

Fidelity was never a main concern for members of The Beatles. John Lennon reportedly cheated on his first wife with 300 women. Paul McCartney carried on various affairs during his relationship with longtime girlfriend Jane Asher.

George was no different. He declared his love for Ringo Starr’s wife...

Nigel Kneale, creator of the cult science fiction serial Quatermass, has been commemorated by a brand new set of stamps from his native Isle of Man.

The set of six Kneale Archives postage stamps is available from the Isle of Man Post Office and covers his career right from his beginnings in the theater, and his 1949 anthology Tomato Cain and Other Stories, to his iconic science fiction work, including the dystopian The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968), ghost story The Stone Tape (1972), and horror anthology Beasts (1976).

Naturally, Quatermass looms large (although it’s confined to a single stamp). The influence of the six-part Quatermass Experiment (1953), Quatermass II (1955), and Quatermass and the Pit (1959) – and their Hammer adaptations – can be seen in everything from Doctor Who to Stephen King.

Jane Asher, who has a small role in 1955’s The Quatermass Xperiment before going on to star as Jill Greely in 1970’s The Stone Tape,...

Paul McCartney played a huge role in The Beatles’ success. As one of the group’s main songwriters (along with John Lennon), Macca created some of the band’s biggest hits. Producer George Martin was also a key player. He was responsible for making the songs sound great. Paul and Martin worked together on Beatles songs for years, but there’s a connection between the producer and the self-professed instigator of The Beatles.

(l-r) George Martin and Paul McCartney | KMazur/WireImage Paul McCartney and George Martin had a hidden connection besides The Beatles — Jane Asher’s mother

The influx of money that came with being pop stars meant The Beatles could afford to live almost anywhere. His bandmates settled in the London suburbs, but Paul remained in the city.

He moved in with his girlfriend, Jane Asher, and her family: Parents Richard and Margaret, and her older brother Peter.

Paul...

The Beatles‘ recreational weed use is well-documented in their interviews, songs, and even on film (Help!). The band began to use marijuana in 1965 regularly. However, the band’s pot use became just another tool in their arsenal that unleashed their creativity. Here are three of The Beatles’ most popular songs which reference marijuana.

The Beatles are Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison | Bettman/Getty Images ‘She’s A Woman’

The Beatles wrote “She’s A Woman” for the LP Beatles 65. The song’s lines state, “Turns me on when I get lonely.” It refers to a woman introducing the singer to smoking pot.

“She’s A Woman” was written and recorded on the same day in October 1964. The song was used as the B-side of “I Feel Fine.”

In the book The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul, it was revealed this song contains...

Paul McCartney bought High Park Farm in Scotland in 1968. It’s where he rode out The Beatles’ breakup, where he found peace among nature in a post-Beatles world, and where he got arrested in 1973 for growing marijuana.

Paul McCartney | Michael Putland/Getty Images Paul McCartney’s farm at High Park

Before The Beatles called it quits, the band was as popular as ever. It was in that Beatle frenzy that McCartney’s then-girlfriend Jane Asher encouraged him to purchase High Park. Eventually, the two broke up. But the farm is where newlyweds McCartney and Linda Eastman made a life together.

“Going up to Scotland was real freedom,” he said, according to The Herald. “It was an escape – our means of finding a new direction in life and having time to think about what we really wanted to do… It was like, ‘Let’s escape – we’ll just run away’. And we did,...