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The recently released Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells anime series based on the light novel series written by Kaoru Shinozaki has become quite trending within the shonen world. However, the recognition that the series has earned might not be for the best.

Failure Frame Anime Series | Credit: Seven Arcs

The series follows the adventures of Mimori Touka, who was a nobody in his school. However, when he and his classmates are summoned to a magical world by Goddess Vysis to become heroes, he thinks that his life will change. But he suffers the same fate in the new world too, which forces Vysis to discard him.

However, the powers he gained might not be useless after all, as he decides to take revenge on the goddess, revealing his true intentions. While the story is intriguing, the anime series might not be so entertaining,...

Katy Perry couldn’t listen to much secular music as a child, but she began to discover new albums as she grew up. Perry said Queen helped expand her taste in music. When she discovered two other classic artists, she said she couldn’t listen to anything but their albums.

Katy Perry said she had two albums on repeat

When Perry was a teenager, she began to pursue a music career. She grew up in a strict religious household and had listened to little secular music at this point in her life.

“It wasn’t until I started to make my gospel record when I was around 14 or 15 that I started to be exposed to more outside influences,” she told Kristen Wiig in a conversation for Interview Magazine. “Before that, I was actually really into Christian music. I knew all about the Christian music scene, which was a very small kind of sect.

In 1979, Fleetwood Mac released Tusk, an experimental album that was a stark departure from Rumours. The album was not as commercially successful as its predecessor and, while critics liked it, they didn’t think it stacked up to the band’s 1977 magnum opus. Still, it drew some comparisons to The Beatles. Some critics didn’t use the comparison as a compliment, though.

Critics compared a ‘Fleetwood Mac’ album to The Beatles

The stormy dynamic that hung heavy over the Rumours recording sessions followed Fleetwood Mac into the studio as they worked on Tusk. Lindsey Buckingham seized creative control and his bandmate’s songs didn’t fit all that snugly into his vision. As a result, the album sounded like a mismatched collection of songs instead of a cohesive whole. This quality, some critics said, evoked The Beatles’ White Album.

“[F]leetwood Mac‘s Tusk represents both the last word in lavish...

The first track on This Is Lorelei’s upcoming debut album is a sweet, sad song called “Angel’s Eye.” “So long, my lonely friend/Goodbye, my only love,” a high voice sings over gently rolling strums. It’s a pure, earnest country weeper, full of feeling in every note.

If you don’t already know, you might be surprised to learn that This Is Lorelei is an alias for Nate Amos, one of the mad-scientist minds behind the Brooklyn duo Water From Your Eyes. In that band, he twists strange,...

Nothing about Einstürzende Neubauten’s “Everything Will Be Fine” suggests anything could be fine. The track, from their new album, Rampen: Apm (Alien Pop Music), begins with creaking, like the warning sounds of a structure about to break. It could be the “collapsing new buildings” of the band’s name. And when frontman Blixa Bargeld opens his mouth, it’s not words of reassurance, instead he’s rasping moistly in English and German about voids and nothingness. Every second feels unsettling.

Then in comes the funk, as Alexander Hacke plays some wah-wah inflected electric bass,...

The Beatles‘ The White Album is their most eclectic record. In spite of its mix of styles, one rock star said he influenced 75% of the album — and he has a quote from George Harrison to back that up. Notably, the star recalled helping John Lennon write an emotional ballad for the album.

The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ was inspired by the guitar playing style of another rock star

Donovan is a singer known for folk tunes like “Catch the Wind,” “There Is a Mountain,” and “Colours,” as well as psychedelic tracks like “Sunshine Superman,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “Mellow Yellow.” He was there during The Beatles’ storied trip to India to learn about meditation from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. During a 2013 interview with Performing Songwriter, he discussed how he influenced The Beatles at that time.

“John looked at me playing guitar one day and said, [imitating Lennon] ‘How do you do that?...

The Beatles wrote many songs about themselves but they rarely wrote about other rock stars. One of the songs from The Beatles’ The White Album is reportedly a lighthearted spoof of one of the rockers the band knew personally. Despite this, Paul McCartney said the song had a very different meaning.

A song from The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ may be about a star who worships Mother Nature

Donovan is a folk-rock singer who explored hippie mysticism through songs like “Atlantis,” “Season of the Witch,” and “There Is a Mountain.” He famously accompanied The Beatles on their trip to Rishikesh, India, to study meditation under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. According to a Variety article, The Beatles were gently poking fun at Donovan with “Mother Nature’s Son,” one of the folk tunes from The White Album.

Modern cultures mainly use Mother Nature as a symbol for the earth. However, the ancient...

Paul McCartney has nothing but praise for Beyoncé’s cover of “Blackbird.”

In an Instagram post shared Thursday, McCartney said he gave the superstar his blessing to include her rendition of The Beatles’ classic on Cowboy Carter. “I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it. I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song,” he wrote.

McCartney also shared that he’s “so happy” with Beyoncé’s cover, as she “does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place.”

Over the years, McCartney has given various answers as to what the song was written about, from being inspired by hearing the call of a blackbird while the Beatles were in India, to penning it...

Paul McCartney applauded Beyoncé’s rendition of the White Album classic “Blackbird” in a statement posted Thursday on the Beatles legend’s social media.

“I am so happy with [Beyoncé’s] version of my song ‘Blackbird,'” McCartney wrote alongside a photo of the singers together. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place. I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out.

Of all The Beatles, Ringo Starr wrote the fewest songs for the band. He was more interested in supporting his bandmates’ writing with his drumming. Still, Starr played an important role in the inception of a couple of classic Beatles songs. His “Ringoisms” inspired the titles of two songs.

Ringo Starr accidentally named 2 Beatles songs

Practically as soon as Starr joined The Beatles, his bandmates grew accustomed to his unique way of speaking. He often coined phrases that they’d never heard before.

“Ringo would always say grammatically incorrect phrases and we’d all laugh,” George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology. “I remember when we were driving back to Liverpool from Luton up the M1 motorway in Ringo’s Zephyr, and the car’s bonnet hadn’t been latched properly. The wind got under it and blew it up in front of the windscreen. We were all shouting, ‘Aaaargh!

Over the course of their time in The Beatles, Paul McCartney’s bandmates grew increasingly frustrated with him. To them, McCartney’s perfectionism and insistence on controlling many aspects of the recording process was highly annoying. McCartney himself admitted that he could be a bit bossy to his bandmates. Still, he claimed that he tried to take a step back on Abbey Road but his bandmates didn’t want him to.

Paul McCartney said his bandmates wanted him to exert control over ‘Abbey Road’

Though it was not the last album the band released, the final time The Beatles got into the studio together was to record Abbey Road. The band fought bitterly while recording the White Album and Let It Be. As a result, McCartney vowed to be less overbearing with his bandmates on the latest album.

“Again the feeling that I mustn’t be dominating was plaguing me,...

The Beatles famously visited India with The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, Donovan, and Mia Farrow. In retrospect, Love had a lot to say about the trip through his words and through his music. Here’s a look at why these rock stars decided to go to the other side of the world.

The Beach Boys’ Mike Love said the trip to India helped The Beatles grow

During a 2023 interview with Forbes, Love said he wrote his song “Pisces Brothers” as a tribute to visiting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, though the song is primarily written in honor of the quiet Beatle. In the song, Love sings, “We were drawn to Rishikesh not for fortune or for fame but for enlightenment we came.”

In a 2014 article he wrote for HuffPost, Love put the trip in the context of two careers.

John Lennon said a song from The Beatles’ The White Album has some social commentary. It’s also supposed to be a joke. Is it a funny joke? Well, that’s a dicey question to look at all these years later.

John Lennon said a song from The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ was inspired by tigers’ deaths

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John was asked about “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill.”

“Oh, that was written about a guy in Maharishi’s meditation camp who took a short break to go shoot a few poor tigers, and then came back to commune with God,” John recalled.

“There used to be a character called Jungle Jim and I combined him with Buffalo Bill. It’s a sort of teenage social-comment song and a bit of a joke.

When The Beatles officially broke up in 1969, George Harrison breathed a sigh of relief. He had grown tired of the band and had even briefly quit. While he acknowledged that being in the band had some benefits, he saw it as a rut. He said that by the end of the 1960s, he would have done anything to get out of the band.

George Harrison was ready to leave The Beatles

When Harrison became more interested in writing songs, his frustration with The Beatles began to mount. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the band’s primary songwriters, and they didn’t seem to want this to change. They pushed back on Harrison’s contributions and valued their work over his. As a result, he saw the band’s breakup as a chance to grow creatively.

“My feeling when we went our separate ways was to enjoy the space that it gave me,...

While it’s one of the most innovative songs of the 1960s, Ringo Starr declined to play The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” for a shockingly long amount of time. He discussed performing the track live with Paul McCartney in the 2010s. The song “Helter Skelter” has a disturbing history. John Lennon had a dismissive attitude toward that history.

Ringo Starr asked why he would want to play The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’

Ringo played “Helter Skelter” with Paul McCartney in July 2019. During a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, Ringo was asked if he played the song since she came out in 1968. “No, I did listen to it once before [the performance], but why would I play it?” he said.

“I love playing with Paul,” Ringo continued. “And he’s great. You know, if he’s in L.A., and I’m making a record, he’s on a track. He’s still for me, the finest,...

Paul McCartney has long praised Ringo Starr’s skill as a drummer, but he didn’t think Starr always felt confident in himself. Starr was often the butt of jokes in the press; a rumor that John Lennon said Starr wasn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles circulated. McCartney eventually spoke about why he thought Starr was paranoid about his abilities.

Paul McCartney said Ringo Starr didn’t seem to trust in his abilities

For years, members of The Beatles and countless other drummers have spoken about Starr’s skill. McCartney thought Starr doubted his abilities because he didn’t do drum solos, though.

“I think Ringo was always paranoid that he wasn’t a great drummer because he never used to solo,” McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology. “He hated those guys who went on and on, incessantly banging while the band goes off and has a cup of tea or something.

The Beatles’ 1962-1966 (‘The Red Album’) and 1967-1970 (‘The Blue Album’) collections are today released in 2023 Edition packages by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe. Since their first incarnations appeared 50 years ago, these albums have introduced successive generations to The Beatles’ music. Now, both collections’ tracklists have been expanded, with all the songs mixed in true stereo and Dolby Atmos. New 4Cd and 180-gram 6Lp vinyl collections pair ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ in slipcased sets. The UK single version of “Love Me Do” now kicks off 1962-1966 (2023 Edition), and the smash hit single “Now And Then” is featured on 1967-1970 (2023 Edition) to complete the career-spanning collections.

1962-1966 and 1967-1970 (2023 Editions)

Stereo mixes:

Both collections: digital; streaming; 2Cd; 180g 3Lp black vinyl; 180g 6Lp black vinyl slipcased set; limited edition Beatles Store exclusives: 3Lp colored vinyl (red for ‘Red’/blue for ‘Blue’); 4Cd slipcased set; 6Lp colored vinyl slipcased set

Dolby Atmos mixes:...

The Beatles’ 1962-1966 (‘The Red Album’) and 1967-1970 (‘The Blue Album’) collections are today released in 2023 Edition packages by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe. Since their first incarnations appeared 50 years ago, these albums have introduced successive generations to The Beatles’ music. Now, both collections’ tracklists have been expanded, with all the songs mixed in true stereo and Dolby Atmos. New 4Cd and 180-gram 6Lp vinyl collections pair ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ in slipcased sets. The UK single version of “Love Me Do” now kicks off 1962-1966 (2023 Edition), and the smash hit single “Now And Then” is featured on 1967-1970 (2023 Edition) to complete the career-spanning collections.

1962-1966 and 1967-1970 (2023 Editions)

Stereo mixes:

Both collections: digital; streaming; 2Cd; 180g 3Lp black vinyl; 180g 6Lp black vinyl slipcased set; limited edition Beatles Store exclusives: 3Lp colored vinyl (red for ‘Red’/blue for ‘Blue’); 4Cd slipcased set; 6Lp colored vinyl slipcased set

Dolby Atmos mixes:...

The Beatles‘ “Don’t Pass Me By” is one of only two Fab Four songs Ringo Starr is credited with writing himself. The second one is a lot more famous. Regardless, “Don’t Pass Me By” set Ringo on a country-fried path.

The connection between The Beatles’ ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ and ‘Octopus’s Garden’

Only two Beatles songs have Ringo as their sole credited writer: “Don’t Pass Me By” from The White Album and “Octopus’s Garden” from Abbey Road. During a 2008 interview with Goldmine, Ringo discussed the former. “Well, ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ was the first song I’d written that we recorded,” he said. “I’d written other songs, but they were always other people’s song; I just rewrote the words. I used to say that I was rewriting Jerry Lee Lewis B-sides.

“It was just a thrill,” he added. “I remember writing...

More than any other wife of a classic rock star, Yoko Ono is famous for her eccentric behavior. George Harrison revealed Yoko slept under a piano while The Beatles’ albums was coming together in the studio. George explained that completing the album in question proved difficult. John Lennon revealed that Yoko inspired multiple songs on the record.

George Harrison said 1 of The Beatles’ albums was recorded under ‘a lot of strain’

During a 1987 interview with Entertainment Weekly, George discussed the creation of The White Album. “The White Album did have a lot of strain,” the quiet Beatle recalled. “I was feeling really quite good when we started it, because I’d just come out of three months of heavy meditation in the Himalayas, and I came back to the world feeling quite good.

“But there were all kinds of strange things starting to happen,” he said. “John and Yoko had just got together,...

By the time The Beatles recorded The White Album, the band was already becoming quite fractured personally and professionally. It was 1968, and the band’s most ambitious effort was the project, almost ending their partnership. The White Album was The Beatles’ ninth studio album and the only double LP they would ever record. But one moment in the studio led John Lennon to go “ballistic” on Paul McCartney, leading to a moment that would forever change one of their most iconic songs.

John Lennon ‘went ballistic’ on Paul McCartney during this one pivotal moment while recording ‘The White Album’

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr recorded The White Album in mid-1968. The album features 30 songs, 19 of which were written during March and April 1968.

However, tensions between the bandmates heightened as the recording wore on. Lennon and McCartney couldn’t agree on the recording of several songs.

The...

John Lennon wrote the sweeping lullaby “Good Night” for the White Album, but he didn’t sing the song. Typically, he would sing the songs he wrote, but he passed this one off to Ringo Starr. According to Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, this was a shame. He explained that Lennon sang a beautiful demo of the song. He didn’t find Starr’s version of the song nearly as impressive.

John Lennon let Ringo Starr sing lead on a song he wrote

Work on the White Album was, for the most part, a nightmare for everyone involved. Band relations were frosty when they weren’t outright hostile, and everyone in the studio was exhausted and fed up. Therefore, the introduction of Lennon’s “Good Night” came as a pleasant surprise.

“[J]ohn surprised us all with the unveiling of his lush ballad ‘Good Night,'” Emerick wrote in his book Here,...

The mood in the studio sessions for The Beatles’ White Album was grim, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney constantly at each other’s throats. The two had once been close collaborators. Suddenly, they could hardly agree on anything. Lennon openly derided one of McCartney’s songs. After spending too much time on it, he left the studio in a rage.

John Lennon was not happy with Paul McCartney after hours of working on his song

One of Lennon’s least favorite songs on the White Album was “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da,” McCartney’s bouncing, reggae-inspired tune. He rolled his eyes every time the band worked on it, which was often. McCartney worked endlessly to perfect it, much to the irritation of everyone else in the studio.

“The previous week’s work was a typical study in frustration,” audio engineer Geoff Emerick wrote in his book Here, There and Everywhere: My Life...

Upon reflection, John Lennon disliked many of The Beatles’ songs and albums. He acknowledged that fans liked the music, but he thought he was capable of more. One of the albums Lennon claimed to hate was among The Beatles’ most well-known and well-loved. Here’s what he had to say about it.

John Lennon was not a fan of a much-loved Beatles album

While recording the White Album, audio engineer Geoff Emerick decided he couldn’t stomach working with The Beatles anymore. They continuously fought in the studio, turning their vitriol on anyone within eyesight. When he told the band he was quitting, they seemed suitably ashamed.

“As I headed down to face them, I could see George Harrison, Ringo, and, surprisingly, even Paul all staring down at the ground like guilty schoolboys,” Emerick wrote in his book Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles.

Tl;Dr:

A left-wing magazine criticized songs from The Beatles’ The White Album for being weak. John Lennon then corresponded with one of his critics and made friends with a communist activist. John’s experience inspired him to write one of his most famous solo songs.

John Lennon learned that a political magazine criticized two songs from The Beatles’ The White Album. He responded by chatting with some activists who worked for the magazine. Subsequently, the experience inspired one of his most famous socially-conscious songs.

John Lennon responded to criticism of 2 songs from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’

Tariq Ali is a communist activist from England. During a 2020 interview with Jacobin, Ali discussed the beginning of his friendship with John. “In The Black Dwarf, our left-wing magazine, we criticized The Beatles’ songs ‘Revolution 1’ and ‘Revolution 9,’ saying these were very weak songs,” he recalled.

“To our surprise, a letter to the editor from John Lennon arrived,...

Tl;Dr:

Paul McCartney wanted a certain image to appear on The Beatles’ The White Album. He thought that would make each copy of the record special. The album was more popular in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom.

Paul McCartney had an idea for The Beatles’ The White Album he called “radical.” Subsequently, The Beatles’ record label, Emi, rejected the concept. However, John Lennon had a copy of The White Album that captured Paul’s vision.

Paul McCartney wanted each copy of The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ to be numbered

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the cover of The White Album at length. He had an idea about what Emi could do with the cover of the record.

“I said, ‘Look, records must go through something to put the shrinkwrap on or to staple them. Couldn’t you just...

Bob Dylan was one of the most important musicians to The Beatles. His music inspired several Fab Four songs, and it’s probably not a coincidence that the troubadour controversially went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival after The Beatles stormed the United States. Still, Dylan’s favorite Beatles song wasn’t one of their complex tunes but one of their relatively straightforward early songs.

Bob Dylan named ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ his favorite Beatles song because of the chords and harmonies

Many music fans call The Fab Four’s Revolver the first psychedelic record. “Helter Skelter” might have been the first heavy metal song. The popularity of the White Album paved the way for other classic rock bands to release double LPs.

Yet for all the groundbreaking moves they made later in their career, Dylan said his favorite Beatles song was one of their early ones — “I Want to Hold Your Hand.

The Beatles tried to be democratic about the songs they put on their albums, but John Lennon once went to Paul McCartney and tried to bypass that system. Lennon had grown tired of The Beatles and didn’t see much of a point in competing with his bandmates for album space. As he no longer wanted to write that much, he asked McCartney for more freedom to add what he wanted to the albums.

John Lennon grew frustrated with The Beatles even when Paul McCartney tried to engage him

While Lennon and McCartney were The Beatles’ primary songwriters in the band’s early days, George Harrison began contributing more songs. Suddenly, getting album space was more competitive, and Lennon wasn’t interested in going head-to-head with his bandmates.

“You’d come up with a ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ I didn’t write any of that except ‘Walrus’; I’d accept it...

George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is one of the best songs he wrote for The Beatles. He didn’t write many hits for the fab four, but this White Album song is one of his highlights. While this track would take many writers years to think up, Harrison found inspiration for it relatively quickly.

George Harrison found the title of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ in a book

Harrison didn’t write many hits for The Beatles, as most songwriting duties fell to Paul McCartney and John Lennon. However, when he did get the opportunity to write, he shined. A few of his tracks, like “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”, remain classic hits in The Beatles’ discography.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a song from 1968’s The White Album. The track is another of Harrison’s philosophical ballads that sees the singer wondering why people...

Tl;Dr:

Paul McCartney discussed the cover of The Beatles’ The White Album. The cover went through multiple possible iterations. The White Album was a hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. The Beatles | Bettmann / Contributor

The Beatles‘ The White Album could have had an apple stain on its cover. Paul McCartney explained why that idea got shot down. In addition, he revealed he was initially skeptical of making the cover of The White Album solidly white.

Paul McCartney asked a pop artist to think up the cover of The Beatles’ The White Album’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said he was a fan of the pop artist Richard Hamilton. The artist is most known for his collage Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?, which was one of the earliest works of pop art. Paul asked...

It’s not a stretch to say The Beatles redefined popular music. When they still played live, their concerts caused mayhem and hysteria. Their singles ruled the charts on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Heck, “Lovely Rita” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band changed the English language. Yet the early Beatles song “She Loves You” proved to be one of the best performances of their career, according to recording engineer Geoff Emerick.

(l-r) Beatles members Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon | David Redfern/Redferns Geoff Emerick said The Beatles gave one of their most exciting performances recording ‘She Loves You’

Emerick worked on Beatles albums such as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, the White Album, Abbey Road, and more. He didn’t work on the song but was at Abbey Road Studios while the band recorded “She Loves You.” For him to say that Beatles song...

Tl;Dr:

Donovan said he might have written a surreal line from The Beatles’ “Julia.” Donovan felt he had an influence on the chords and guitar-playing from The White Album. The line in question sounds like the sort of phrases John Lennon put in The Beatles’ songs. Donovan | Avalon / Contributor

The Beatles‘ “Julia” includes some beautiful surrealist imagery. Donovan said he might’ve written one of the tune’s most striking lines. Subsequently, Donovan unambiguously said he wrote the line.

Donovan said a line from The Beatles’ ‘Julia’ reflected his interest in Victorian Britain

During a 2008 interview with Goldmine, Donovan discussed the possibility that he co-wrote “Julia.” “I think I might have thrown a line in, not a melody, into ‘Julia,'” he recalled. “It sounds like one of my lines, anyway.”

Donovan was asked which line of the song he wrote. “I don’t know,” he said. “‘Seashell eyes,...

The Beatles‘ The White Album has several connections to the Manson Family. For example, the cult thought The Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie” was about one of its members. Subsequently, the member in question discussed what another tune from The White Album meant to Charles Manson and his followers.

Charles Manson | Bettmann / Contributor ‘Sexy Sadie’ from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ fed the delusions of the Manson Family

Susan Atkins was a member of the Manson family. According to the book Helter Skelter, Manson gave Atkins the nickname “Sexy Sadie” long before The Beatles released a song with that title on The White Album. When Manson’s “family” heard The White Album, they thought “Sexy Sadie” proved their leader had a mental connection to the Fab Four.

In her 2005 book Child of Satan, Child of God, Atkins discussed The White Album at length. “Charlie obtained The Beatles’ so-called White Album in late 1968,” she wrote.

John Lennon didn’t hold back from sharing his brutally honest opinions of The Beatles’ discography. While he did love some of his work with the band, he wasn’t fond of a few of the band’s most iconic and successful material. One album he wasn’t a fan of was Abbey Road, which is confusing, given his thoughts on another successful Beatles album.

John Lennon believed ‘Abbey Road’ had ‘no thread’ John Lennon | Ivan Keeman/Redferns

While Let It Be was the final album released by The Beatles, Abbey Road was the last album The Beatles recorded together. The band knew it would be the last because John Lennon announced that he was leaving The Beatles in a 1969 meeting. So, the group took plenty of risks in this final album, and the risks paid off for many. It received phenomenal reviews from critics upon its release and is...

Some of the songs Paul McCartney wrote for The Beatles White Album drove his bandmates crazy. The other three universally hated “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” with a passion, especially since Paul requested they keep working on it. The Fab Four did dozens of takes of the game-changing “Helter Skelter,” a song Paul wrote because he was jealous about The Who’s bragging.

Beatles bassist Paul McCartney | Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images Paul McCartney admits he was jealous of The Who when he wrote ‘Helter Skelter’

The Beatles’ self-titled 1968 record (commonly known as the White Album) had everything except the kitchen sink. Twisted blues/surf-rock/R&b hybrid on “Back in the U.S.S.R.” The Jamaican dancehall-esque tone of “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da.” Gentle folk on “Julia” and “Blackbird.”

“Helter Skelter” was an uncharacteristically brutal song that Paul wrote out of jealousy, as he told GQ (via YouTube):

“How it came about was,...

Everyone has their favorite album by The Beatles, even the four members themselves. However, they also disagreed with each other on the quality of each album, and producer George Martin had his own opinions as well. George Martin disagreed with John Lennon on one Beatles album, which Lennon considers his favorite, while Martin found it a “disappointment.”

John Lennon’s favorite Beatles album was ‘The White Album’ Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, producer George Martin, and John Lennon | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

1968’s The White Album was a drastic shift from 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Instead of being a cohesive concept album, The White Album is more like a compilation album featuring songs written by each member of The Beatles individually. In an interview with Penthouse, Lennon said Paul McCartney didn’t love the album because it was so individualized. However, Lennon considers it...

John Lennon was the most revealing and introspective member of The Beatles. Many of his songs revealed details of his past or brought to life emotions he kept trapped inside. These types of tracks were even more prominent in his solo career. One song he wrote for The Beatles was for his mother, with whom he had a troubled history.

John Lennon wrote ‘Julia’ for his mother John Lennon | Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images

John Lennon was born to Julia and Alfred Lennon on Oct. 9, 1940. His father abandoned him as an infant, leaving him alone with his mother. After receiving complaints from social services, Julia gave custody of John to her sister, Mimi, but the two still had contact. In 1958, a car struck and killed Julia when John was just 17.

The memory of his mother became a creative inspiration for the young singer. While The Beatles were initially a pop-rock band,...

Tl;Dr:

Paul McCartney used the word “pataphysical” in The Beatles’ Abbey Road because he likes surrealism. He learned about the word through a friend who was a notable writer. The Beatles’ Abbey Road was a huge hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. Paul McCartney | Keystone-France / Contributor

Paul McCartney put the word “pataphysical” in a song from The Beatles’ Abbey Road. Notably, the phrase has comedic origins. Subsequently, Paul explained why he used the word.

Paul McCartney used a word in The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ because he loves surrealism

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed his friendship with countercultural author Barry Miles. Miles was interested in a surrealist movement called Pataphysics, a spoof of science.

“Miles and I often used to talk about the ‘Pataphysical Society,” he said. “So I put that in one of the Beatles songs, ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer:’ ‘Joan was quizzical,...

Paul McCartney always had a knack for songwriting. Yet Paul almost gave up on “Drive My Car” until John Lennon helped rescue it. They worked out the kinks before bringing them to the rest of The Beatles, and Paul repaid the favor by helping John finish two of Rubber Soul’s best songs.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Paul McCartney almost gave up on ‘Drive My Car’ until John Lennon saved it

Writing songs never presented much of a challenge for Paul once he got used to the process. He proved his genius as a songwriter with “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da” from the White Album. A friend spoke the titular phrase during a hang-out, which sparked the bouncy tune. Macca wrote several songs on the spot and needed only a few hours to finish his synth-heavy holiday “Wonderful Christmastime.”

“Drive My Car” was the opposite.

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Paul McCartney said he wrote a song for The Beatles’ The White Album with Donovan. The track was originally about the moon but it turned into a song with simple lyrics. Paul is a big fan of the song but it’s nothing compared to a Hollies song with a similar name. The Beatles’ Paul McCartney | Bettmann / Contributor

Paul McCartney said one song from The Beatles’ The White Album has one of his best melodies. Notably, he said another rock star helped him write the song. Despite Paul’s feelings about the track, it’s nothing special.

Paul McCartney said he wrote a love song for The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ with Donovan

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed The Beatles’ time in India. “I was doing a song, ‘I Will,’ that I had as a melody for quite a long time but...

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The Beatles’ “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da” was voted the worst song of all time in a poll of 1,000 people. The song is nowhere near the disaster the poll claims it is. “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da” works better in the context of The White Album. The Beatles | John Pratt / Stringer

The Beatles‘ “Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da” has a bad reputation. In fact, it topped a poll to find the worst song of all time. Despite this, it’s a much better song than a lot of the critics seem to think.

The polled listeners who hated The Beatles’ ‘Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da’ also hated Meat Loaf

According to a 2004 report from the BBC, a Mars Research poll of 1,000 people sought to determine the worst song of all time. No. 3 was Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” No. 2 was “Fog On The Tyne” by the soccer player Paul Gascoigne.

The Beatles were masters of the rock n’ roll genre. While they could create songs that sounded different from each other, they mostly stayed in the realm of rock, where they were comfortable. However, a few times, The Beatles branched out into other genres, creating a new sound that advanced rock even further.

‘Love You To’ The Beatles | Fox Photos/Getty Images

On the set of 1965’s Help!, George Harrison became fascinated by the sitar and began fiddling with the Indian instrument. He first used the instrument on “Norwegian Wood”, but that song still remained closer to the classic Beatles sound with a bit of influence from Bob Dylan. “Love You To” from 1966’s Revolver was the first Beatles song to fully embrace Indian culture and the spiritual nature of its music.

Harrison, who was learning the sitar from sitarist Ravi Shankar, almost entirely orchestrated the track. The only help...

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John Lennon revealed The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” was one of his favorites from The White Album. He implied what Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr thought of the track. “Revolution 9” was ahead of its time. The Beatles | John Pratt / Stringer

The Beatles‘ “Revolution 9 “is not one of the Fab Four’s most beloved songs. In fact, some fans think it’s terrible. Despite this, “Revolution 9” is an avant-garde masterpiece.

John Lennon wanted The Beatles ‘to freak out a bit more’

The book Lennon on Lennon: Interview and Encounters with John Lennon includes an interview John did in 1969, over a year after the release of The White Album. In it, John was asked what kind of music he pictured The Beatles making together in the future.

“I can’t imagine, I can’t imagine at all,” he said. “I don’t think of it in terms of Beatles music.

Some of The Beatles‘ songs are perfect for kids. After all, Paul McCartney said one of the Fab Four’s most famous hits was meant for children. In addition, one of The Beatles’ greatest social statements works for kids.

The Beatles | Bettmann / Contributor 5. ‘Yellow Submarine’

“Yellow Submarine” is like a Dr. Seuss story in song. It has everything a kid’s song needs: a magical faraway land, silly sound effects, and a lot of whimsy.

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed his intentions in writing “Yellow Submarine.” “I remember thinking that a children’s song would be quite a good idea and I thought of images, and the color yellow came to me, and a submarine came to me, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s kind of nice, like a toy, very childish yellow submarine,” he recalled.

“I was thinking of it as a song for Ringo,...

George Harrison had to fight and scratch to get his songs on Beatles records. That’s a well-known fact among Fab Four fans and might explain why he never missed his bandmates when the group broke up. Yet his tunes left their mark when they did show up. George’s most experimental Beatles songs show he was just as instrumental in pushing the band’s boundaries as Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

George Harrison | Chapman/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images George Harrison wrote several Beatles songs and scored 1 chart-topping hit

George’s Beatles songs were relatively few and far between since John and Paul acted as the gatekeepers when it came to putting tunes on Beatles albums. Still, the so-called quiet Beatle put three songs on Revolver and another four on the White Album.

The guitarist placed two songs on Abbey Road, the final album the Fab Four recorded together.

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The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz sang The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon” during a celebration of The White Album. He said performing “Rocky Raccoon” made him want to cry at one point. “Rocky Raccoon” inspired covers by several other classic rock singers including Jimmy Buffett. The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork | NBC / Contributor

The Monkees‘ Micky Dolenz once performed The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon.” Subsequently, he said he wants one of The Monkees’ songs to sound like “Rocky Raccoon” when he performs it live. Notably, “Rocky Raccoon” inspired several other covers by famous singers.

Micky Dolenz planned on performing a whole album of Monkees songs in a concert series

During a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Dolenz was asked if he planned to perform every song from The Monkees’ album Headquarters on his upcoming tour. “Based on the rehearsals … I can’t promise this, but based on the rehearsals, we are,” he said.

When The Beatles broke up, Ringo Starr appreciated the band’s enduring appeal, even years after they’d stopped making music. He didn’t like that people were still trying to profit off the group, though. Companies still produced Beatles merchandise, and people purchased records and autographs for exorbitant prices. He bristled against this, but in some ways, he has contributed to the commercialization of the band.

The Beatles | Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Beatles merchandise quickly became available during Beatlemania

Beatlemania was so widespread that many companies quickly attempted to profit off of it. The easiest way to do so was by producing Beatles merchandise.

“Manufacturers all over the country were by this time competing to get a concession to use the word Beatle on their products,” Hunter Davies wrote in the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. “Beatles jackets — the collarless ones, usually in corduroy, first worn by Stu...

While many refer to The Beatles as the fab four, producer George Martin was an essential fifth member. He might not have played any instruments, but he was vital in ensuring every Beatles song and album sounded as good as it did. Martin had a role in every one of The Beatles’ albums. However, there was one album Martin wasn’t thrilled about, even though it’s one of the band’s most popular records.

‘The White Album’ is the longest album by The Beatles George Martin | Rob Verhorst/Redferns

1968’s The White Album is a double album consisting of 30 songs. 19 songs were written during The Beatles’ trip to India for a Transcendental Meditation course. The album came after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, a concept album where the band worked together closely on the story and concept. The White Album consisted of many different sounds and styles,...

The Beatles remain a popular band decades after they broke up. A few musicians hated the band, but millions of people loved them. They sent several singles and albums to the top of the Billboard charts throughout the 1960s, but three Beatles records peaked at No. 2 in the United States because other Beatles albums kept them from getting to No. 1.

Beatles members George Harrison (from left), Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon (plus an unidentified person) with gold records in 1965 | Bettmann 14 Beatles albums reached the top of the U.S. charts

The Fab Four released a steady stream of albums from 1963 to 1970. They existed for a short time but achieved incredible success as 14 of their studio albums raced to the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart. Still, the first Beatles album to debut at No. 1 was the first anthology compilation released in 1995.

Let’s look more closely at The...

No one would ever accuse the BBC detective series "Luther" of being fluffy and light-hearted, but the film, "Luther: The Fallen Sun," is exceptionally bleak. The film, which sees detective John Luther (Idris Elba) try to capture a vicious serial killer named David Robey (Andy Serkis), is somehow even darker than the television series. In fact, there's even a real-life horror story wrapped into the film through a scene that takes place in front of the Anatomical Crucifixion, an ancient and rather disturbing work of art hanging in London's Royal Academy of the Arts. In a scene near the beginning of the film, Robey visits the Anatomical Crucifixion and sort of stares at it while he discusses his plans (via voiceover) for John Luther. Like the depiction of a flayed man before him, Robey wants Luther metaphorically crucified and laid bare, his layers peeled away for everyone to see. 

In...