Ringo Starr's Personal 'White Album' Sells for World Record $790,000
Ringo Starr's personal copy of the Beatles' The White Album, numbered No.0000001, sold for a world record $790,000 Saturday at the Julien's Live auction of instruments and items from Starr and wife Barbara Bach's estate. Starr's White Album carried a pre-auction estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, a number that was easily shattered during bidding.
"We used to play the vinyl in those days," Starr previously told Rolling Stone of his copy of the band's classic 1968 LP. "We didn't think, 'We'll keep it for 50 years and it will be in pristine condition.' Whoever gets it, it will have my fingerprints on it." The copies of The White Album were numbered in sequence, ensuring that whoever purchased Starr's copy would have the first printing produced of the album.
Starr's 1963 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl three-piece drum kit, used in the recording of "Can't Buy Me Love," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You" and other classics from that era, sold for $2.2 million Friday. The kit was used by Starr in more than 200 performances between May of 1963 and February of 1964 and later employed by Paul McCartney during the recording of his 1970 solo album McCartney.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay purchased the drum kit, which hadn't been seen in public for over 50 years. The Colts owner and rock memorabilia enthusiasts previously purchased high-profile instruments like Bob Dylan's 1965 Newport Folk Festival guitar, John Lennon's 1966 "Paperback Writer" Gretsch guitar and Les Paul's "Black Beauty."
Other Starr instruments sold at auction include a drum kit from the "Hello Goodbye" video ($112,000), a Rickenbacker guitar gifted to the drummer from Lennon ($910,000, also purchased by Irsay) and a Starr-owned Hofner bass ($22,500). Starr's A Hard Day's Night suit was also sold for $50,000.
Another item that generated a lot of interest on the auction block was a 1971 18-karat yellow gold "Moonphase" Patek Philippe wristwatch. The watch – which sold for $179,000, nearly double its $80,000 estimate – was one of the few items on the block that didn't need the benefit of Starr's ownership to increase its value: As Bloomberg reported, Starr's Patek Philippe wristwatch was incredibly rare, one of only 586 made, attracting watch enthusiasts more so than Beatles fanatics. When the same model Patek Philippe was auctioned in November 2012, it drew a closing bid of $136,000.
_________________ "It's only rock & roll, but I like it!"
The Beatles' Indian spiritual retreat turned into tourist attraction
The site of The Beatles' famous 1968 spiritual retreat in northern India has become a tourist attraction after being renovated and reopened to the public.
The Fab Four visited a transcendental meditation sanctuary in the forest near Rishikesh during March and April of that year, seeking enlightenment with plans to write songs while there. While their productivity was high – the band reportedly wrote 48 songs for 'The White Album' during this period – the stay was ultimately cut short, after guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was accused of making sexual advances to fellow guest, actress Mia Farrow.
The forest has long become a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans but there were recent reports that it had become overgrown.
Reports now state that cleaning teams have revived the forest ready for visitors.
Senior forestry official Rajendra Nautiyal told the BBC: "We have cleaned up the place and lined the pathways with flowers. We are making some gardens and putting some benches for visitors".
"We are introducing a nature trial and bird walk. We also plan to set up a cafeteria and a souvenir shop at some point. We want to retain the place’s rustic look."
The forest reopened to the public on Tuesday (December 8). Entry reportedly costs around £7.
The Beatles' Indian spiritual retreat turned into tourist attraction
The site of The Beatles' famous 1968 spiritual retreat in northern India has become a tourist attraction after being renovated and reopened to the public.
The Fab Four visited a transcendental meditation sanctuary in the forest near Rishikesh during March and April of that year, seeking enlightenment with plans to write songs while there. While their productivity was high – the band reportedly wrote 48 songs for 'The White Album' during this period – the stay was ultimately cut short, after guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was accused of making sexual advances to fellow guest, actress Mia Farrow.
The forest has long become a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans but there were recent reports that it had become overgrown.
Reports now state that cleaning teams have revived the forest ready for visitors.
Senior forestry official Rajendra Nautiyal told the BBC: "We have cleaned up the place and lined the pathways with flowers. We are making some gardens and putting some benches for visitors".
"We are introducing a nature trial and bird walk. We also plan to set up a cafeteria and a souvenir shop at some point. We want to retain the place’s rustic look."
The forest reopened to the public on Tuesday (December 8). Entry reportedly costs around £7.
The Beatles come to music streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Groove
The Beatles - the popular British rock band that's considered among the most influential acts in music history - are finally coming to the world's biggest music streaming services.
Given that they remain one of the biggest-selling bands ever, almost 60 years after they first teamed up, it's perhaps surprising that their music hasn't made it to streaming services before now. But the process of bringing their back-catalog to digital music services has never been entirely smooth - their music didn't even make it onto iTunes until 2010, nine years after the launch of Apple's music store.
Today, an announcement on TheBeatles.com confirmed that their music will be made available for streaming worldwide via the following nine services:
Apple Music
Deezer
Google Play
Microsoft Groove
Amazon Prime
Rhapsody
Spotify
Slacker
Tidal
You'll be able to start streaming The Beatles' music via those services from 12:01am local time in your part of the world, and you can also "track its progress around the world, from east to west" via TheBeatles.com, as the songs go live in each timezone.
if the beatles can do it, so can prince, neil young, bob seger and AC/DC, and a host of others who have either pulled their music or never let on there in first place.....except, of course, for taylor swift, because she is bigger than beatles
_________________ Speak Out! You've got to speak out against he madness, that is if you still can, and you still dare"
except, of course, for taylor swift, because she is bigger than beatles
She's listed as 5' 10" - McCartney, Harrison and Lennon were all listed at 5' 11". Although she is bigger than Ringo (5' 8"). But he has more famous relatives (Barbara Bach, Joe Walsh).
_________________ Alan
"This is a true story, except for the parts that didn't happen." - Steven Wright
Robert Balser, Animation Director on 'Yellow Submarine,' Dies at 88
Robert Balser, who served as the animation director for The Beatles’ film Yellow Submarine and on the Saturday morning Jackson Five cartoons of the early 1970s, has died. He was 88.
Balser died Monday of complications from respiratory failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, Cima, told leading animation website AWN.com.
Balser also partnered with graphic design legend Saul Bass on the seven-minute, end-of-film animated title sequence for Michael Anderson’s star-filled Around the World in 80 Days (1956), and he helmed the otherworldly “Den” sequence for Heavy Metal (1981).
Balser and Jack Stokes served as animation directors on the surreal Yellow Submarine (1968). The vividly colored film, set in the paradise of Pepperland, is full of morphing shapes and bizarre creatures like the Blue Meanies.
More than 200 artists were employed on the hand-drawn Beatles feature during a frenzied production that took 11 months to complete on a budget of less than $1 million.
“We didn’t say we’re going to do this because of this or that — it just happened,” Balser, one of the few Americans to work on the film, said in a 2012 interview. “I see how it works with little kids, with teenagers, how it’s engraved in the memory of older people. I think it resonates today, but I don’t know why.”
Balser launched Pegbar Productions in Barcelona, Spain, and later worked on the Jackson Five cartoons, which aired on ABC from 1971-72; The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, a 1979 Emmy-winning telefilm; and episodes of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show in the 1980s.
Allan Rouse, Modern-Day ‘Gatekeeper’ for the Beatles, Dies
Beatles engineer and archivist Allan Rouse, who played a key role in the band’s BBC, Anthology and compact disc reissue series, has died. No specific information on cause of death was released, though the Beatles and producer George Martin’s son confirmed Rouse had suffered from a lengthy illness.
Giles Martin remembered Rouse as the “gatekeeper” for the Beatles at Abbey Road. “He looked after and cherished everything that was recorded by the band and my father all those years ago,” the younger Martin said. “Only Allan knew where everything was and only Allan was trusted with preserving the tapes and the legacy of the most successful band in the history of recorded music.”
He was part of a group that earned a 2011 Grammy for the Beatles stereo remix box, and helped create the multi-channel mixes used to complete the surround sound for Love album. That trust was earned over a lengthy tenure at Apple. Rouse worked his way up for the lower ranks beginning in the early ’70s, as he recalled in a 2010 interview with Jason Kennedy.
“I started off working on film scores at Abbey Road, but got the job of making safety copies of every Beatles tape,” Rouse said. “At that time they’d never been backed up. … Midway through that process, George Martin was making a program about the making of Sgt. Pepper and needed to go over the tapes again, and needed some help. So I did that, and at the end of the process he said I’ll probably be seeing you again, but he didn’t elaborate. He came back to do the Beatles at the BBC and I spent six months remastering that. And then this was followed by another stint where we worked together for a year on the Anthology series. By then, I was becoming the person people turned to when they needed some Beatles work done.”
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Beatle widows Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono issued also a joint statement in remembrance of Rouse.
“Allan joined Abbey Road studios in 1972 and during his time there made an invaluable contribution towards preserving the music and legacy of the Beatles. He worked on all the releases with extraordinary dedication and loyalty,” they said. “Allan was a true friend of the band and of everyone at Apple, and will be remembered with great affection by those of us who were lucky enough to spend time working with him.”
Yoko Ono was hospitalized Friday evening for what was initially reported to be a possible stroke -- though her publicist later said the artist and singer was suffering from flu-like symptoms, CBS New York reported.
Ono, who turned 83 this month, was taken from her home at the Dakota on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and rushed to Mount Sinai West Hospital, a police source told CBS New York's Jessica Schneider.
She was unconscious when she was taken to the hospital at 9:05 p.m., the FDNY told the station.
Publicist Elliott Mintz told The Associated Press late Friday that Ono went to the hospital on the advice of her doctor and that she likely will be released from the hospital Saturday.
Sean Lennon confirms Yoko Ono is 'fine' following hospitalisation
Sean Lennon has confirmed his mother Yoko Ono is "fine" following being hospitalised yesterday (February 26).
The musician was admitted to a New York hospital on the advice of her doctor after suffering with "flu-like symptoms".
It was reported that the 83-year-old Ono had suffered a stroke, but her publicist denied this and, as Spin reports, Lennon posted on Twitter to address the rumours.
"Hey guys it was only rumours from press: was NOT a stroke, just dehydration/tired. She is FINE. Thank you everyone for you concern," he wrote.
John Lennon's Stamp Collection Set to Show at Major Exhibition
Beatles fans and philatelists alike will be able to view John Lennon's childhood stamp collection during the World Stamp Show in New York City, May 28th through June 4th.
According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum — which first housed Lennon's stamps in 2005 — the budding musician began collecting stamps after his older cousin, Stanley Parkes, gifted him a partially filled in album. Over the years, Lennon filled the book with stamps taken from letters sent from the United States and New Zealand.
When the National Postal Museum first purchased Lennon's "lost album," late curator Wilson Hulme did note to Smithsonian Magazine that the collection did not boast any notable stamps. "Typically, young boys aren't interested in rarity," he said. "They tend to concentrate on geography and colors. If they come back to collecting when they have more time and money, that's when collections become exceptional."
Still, the album does offer a unique insight into Lennon's childhood, and perhaps his budding wanderlust and creativity: The book's title page features a reprinted stamp emblazoned with Queen Victoria and King George VI — on their likenesses, Lennon doodled a mustache and beard, respectively.
Held every 10 years, the World Stamp show will be take place at the Javits Event Center in Manhattan. Admission is free, and doors open May 28th at 10:30 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. ET; from the 29th through June 4th, show hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. More information is available at the World Stamp Show's website.
Paul McCartney announces the first 'One on One' tour dates
Paul McCartney has revealed the first string of dates as part of his One On One tour.
The jaunt, which is set to kick off in April, will see The Beatles legend play shows in the likes of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver with more dates expected to be confirmed.
A press release promises a newly redesigned set, as well as "no shortage of surprises." McCartney's previous tour, Out There, concluded last October.
Tickets for McCartney's tour are set to go on sale Monday, March 14 at 10am. See the first seven tour dates below.
04-13 Fresno, CA - SaveMart Arena 04-15 Portland, OR - Moda Center 04-17 Seattle, WA - Key Arena 04-19-20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rogers Arena 04-30 Little Rock, AR - Verizon Arena 05-02 Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford Premier Center
For us Beatle fans in the NYC area, Revolver Records was a fixture for many years. I know that I'm not alone in feeling that it was the best record store of its time.
Keith Sluchansky, one of the owners died last night. It's very sad news. If not for Keith and his efforts, many Beatle fans would have a lot more space in their shelves for lesser musicians.
I knew Keith, not well, but he was a good guy, very nice, very accommodating.
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