Brian Epstein on Meeting the Beatles

"I saw the Beatles at a midday session, and I liked them enormously. I immediately liked the sound that I heard. I decided that I should at least talk to them and find out, for my own satisfaction, what it was that made them tick. So I pushed my way through to the front and got within speaking distance, allowing for all the noise that was going on. I heard their sound before I met them. I actually think that's important, because I think it should always be remembered that, in fact, people hear their sound and like this sound before they meet them. They are important, but I immediately liked what I heard, and I thought that it was something that an awful lot of people would like. They were fresh, honest and had, what I thought, a sort of presence and star quality, whatever that is."

Lennon Naked

Lennon Naked was a 2010 TV biopic focusing on the life of John Lennon between 1967 and 1971. It was first broadcast on 24 June 2010 on BBC Four.

The 90-minute film depicts Lennon's life around the time of meeting Yoko Ono, through The Beatles' breakup and his subsequent emigration to New York.

Cast

* Christopher Eccleston – John Lennon
* Naoko Mori – Yoko Ono
* Adrian Bower – Pete Shotton
* Claudie Blakley – Cynthia Lennon
* Rory Kinnear – Brian Epstein
* Jack Morgan – George Harrison
* Andrew Scott – Paul McCartney

Wikipedia

John Lennon on the Beatles Playing in Hamburg, Germany

"We had to play all the tunes for hours and hours on end. That's why every song lasted twenty minutes and had twenty solos in it. The Germans like heavy rock, you know, so we had to really keep rocking all the time, and that's how we got stomping. It was all four in the bar, because the drummer, Pete Best, could only do four int he bar on his bass drum. So, everything we did was just boom, boom, boom, boom, like that."

Paul McCartney on the Death of John Lennon's Mother

"John was devastated. He loved his mum more than anything, but at that age, you're not allowed to be devastated, particularly not teenage boys. You just shrug it off. I know he had private tears. It's not that either of us were remotely hard-hearted about it, it shattered us, but we knew that you had to get on with your life. We were like wounded animals and, just by looking at each other, we knew the pain that we were feeling, but we weren't going to break down and cry because you just didn't do that kind of thing."

John Lennon on George Harrison and Cynthia Powell

"When George was a kid, he used to follow me and my first girlfriend Cynthia. We would come out of the art school together and he'd be hovering around . . . Cyn and I would be going to a coffee shop or a movie and George would follow us down the street two hundred yards behind. Cyn would say, 'Who is that guy? What does he want?' And I'd say, 'He just wants to hang out. Should we take him with us?' She'd say, 'Oh, okay, let's take him to the bloody movies.' So we'd allow him to come to the movies with us. That's the sort of relationship it was."

All Together Now

All Together Now is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the making of The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil collaboration project Love. The film details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and launch of the Love stage show and the double Grammy-winning album of the same name. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, a former assistant to the band and head of Apple Corps.

All Together Now recounts how the Love project came into being, borne from the personal friendship between George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. George saw how the twin talents of Cirque’s artistry and The Beatles’ music could be fused into something new and totally original. The title of the DVD refers to The Beatles song "All Together Now."

The director, Adrian Wills, records early meetings between the Cirque & Apple Corps' creative teams, as well as contributions from Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison discussing how The Beatles' music can be used in a different way. The film touches on the decision to utilize the combined talents of Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin to produce what became a 90-minute soundscape created from The Beatles' multi-track recordings and how this new audio adventure was being quietly worked on in the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, England whilst the first creative ideas for the show were being formulated in Montreal, Canada.

These early stages of the project were all filmed, as were the first rehearsals in the theatre of The Mirage in Las Vegas, which was completely rebuilt with a one-of-a-kind sound system and complex round staging to house the Love show. George and Giles Martin, the show’s musical directors, were involved with the Cirque du Soleil creative team, performers and backroom staff.

The DVD was released on 20 October 2008.

The DVD won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video Long Form, an award that The Beatles themselves have won before, with the release of the movie "Let It Be."

Wikipedia

Ringo Starr Live Online Gig

Live performances featuring Ringo Starr, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Rick Derringer, Richard Page, Wally Palmar and Gregg Bissonette. Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band are preparing to embark on their 2011 European tour. The twenty eight date tour, which begins on June 4th, is the most extensive European tour undertaken by Ringo and His All Starr Band. With concerts in Ukraine, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Britain, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Holland, Germany and Austria the tour will see Ringo performing in several countries for the first time. It is also Ringo’s first UK tour since 1998.