Richard Penneman, aka ‘Little Richard’ dies in Nashville. The Beatles recorded several of his songs, including “Long Tall Sally,” and Paul McCartney’s singing on those tracks – and the Beatles’ own “I’m Down” – paid tribute to Little Richard’s shredded-throat style. (Rolling Stone) Photo is of The Beatles and Little Richard in Hamburg in the fall of 1962.
English guitarist Bert Weedon who had the 1959 UK No.10 single ‘Guitar Boogie Shuffle’. His best-selling tutorial guides, Play in a Day, were a major influence on many British musicians, such as Eric Clapton, Brian May, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page. Weedon died on 20th April 2012 aged 91.
The Silver Beetles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Tommy Moore) auditioned for promoter Larry Parnes and singer Billy Fury for a job as Fury’s backing group. Parnes was also looking for backing groups for his lesser-known acts, and The Silver Beetles were selected as backing group for singer Johnny Gentle’s upcoming tour of Scotland. The group had changed its name from ‘The Beatals’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ after Brian Casser (of Cass and the Cassanovas) remarked that the name ‘Beatals’ was “ridiculous”. He suggested they use the name ‘Long John and the Silver Beetles’, but John Lennon refused to be referred to as ‘Long John’.
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.
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.
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.
The ornate iron gates of a children’s home which inspired John Lennon’s psychedelic Beatles anthem Strawberry Fields Forever were removed after The Salvation Army, which owned the former home, decided to put the red Victorian gates into storage. Beatles fans who passed the Liverpool site on tours would now be met with 10ft (3m) high replicas. The original gates were being taken to a secret location for storage, and would eventually be auctioned off.
Tony Barrow, who worked as The Beatles’ press officer between 1962 and 1968. He coined the term ‘The Fab Four’ to describe the band and also wrote sleeve notes for their early albums, as well as the strip cartoon for the Magical Mystery Tour booklet. Barrow died on 14th May 2016 aged 80.
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.