This Day in Beatle History

January 20

1988 (Jan 20) - Beatles Inducted Into RRHOF


The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Yoko, Sean, and Julian Lennon all attend.  Paul McCartney did not attend, sending instead a letter stating that continuing business differences with the other ex-Beatles was the reason for his absence.

2000 (Jan 20) - 'Birthplace Of The Beatles' Signs Banned


Tourism departments in Liverpool were banned from putting up motorway signs saying ‘Liverpool, the Birthplace Of The Beatles’ because the Highways Agency thought the signs would distract motorists.

2002 (Jan 20) - 'My Sweet Lord' #1 in Britain Posthumously


George Harrison had the posthumous UK No.1 single with the re-release of the 1971 former No.1 ‘My Sweet Lord’.  Harrison’s single replaced Aaliyah’s ‘More Than A Woman’, the only time in chart history that one deceased artist had taken over from another at No.1. 

2008 (Feb 20) - Beatles' Autographed Rolling Stones Album Auctioned

A 1976 Rolling Stones album bought for £2 at a car boot sale sold for £4,000 at an auction. The ‘Black and Blue’ LP was signed by John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney and George Harrison as well as members of the Rolling Stones. The seller obtained the album after haggling the cost down from £3.

2017 (Jan 20) - Sir Paul Sues Sony Over Beatles Catalog


Sir Paul McCartney was suing Sony over control of The Beatles’ back catalogue. McCartney had gone to a US court, seeking to regain the publishing rights to 267 of the band’s classic songs. He had been trying to get them back since the 1980s, when Michael Jackson famously out-bid him for the rights. Jackson’s debt-ridden estate sold the songs to Sony in 2016.

January 21

1941 (Jan 21) - Richie Havens Born


Richie Havens had the 1971 US No.16 single with his version of George Harrison’s ‘Here Comes The Sun’.  He appeared at Woodstock, Newport, and Isle Of Wight festivals.   Havens died of a heart attack at home in Jersey City, New Jersey aged 72,  on April 22, 2013.

1962 (Jun 6) - First Beatles Recordings at What Will Become 'Abbey Road'

The first Beatles recording session took place at EMI studios. The group recorded four tracks, one of which was ‘Love Me Do’ the four musicians received payments for the session of £7.10 ($12.07) each.

1963 (Jan 21) - Beatles on Radio Luxembourg


The Beatles made their third appearance on the Radio Luxembourg program ‘The Friday Spectacular’.  The Beatles played two tracks, ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘Ask Me Why.

1966 (Feb 18) - Brian Wilson Finishes 'Good Vibrations'

Beach Boy Brian Wilson finished recording the future classic song ‘Good Vibrations’, which went on to become the band’s third US number-one hit. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up “vibrations” from people, so that the dog would bark at “bad vibrations” Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

1966 (Jan 21) - George Marries Patti


George Harrison married Patti Boyd at Leatherhead Register Office in Surrey.  Paul McCartney was Best man.  George had first met Patti on the set of The Beatles movie ‘A Hard Day’s Night’.   She later left Harrison in the mid-’70s and started an affair with Harrison’s friend Eric Clapton, who wrote the song “Layla” about her.  The two married in May 1979, but split in 1988.

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