Paul McCartney to claim half the American rights to Beatles tracks from 2018
Paul McCartney has initiated legal proceedings that will allow him to claim the ownership of parts of The Beatles catalogue in the US, three decades after the rights to the tracks were sold to the late Michael Jackson.
Parts of Lennon and McCartney's catalogue will qualify for the claiming of ownership by the original songwriters in January of 2018, and while Yoko Ono has long since done a deal with Sony that gives the company ownership of Lennon's half of the song rights, McCartney has set the process for reclaiming his share into motion.
Billboard revealed last week that McCartney got the process for reclaiming the rights underway in December.
The American publication explains "the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 gave songwriters the ability to recapture the publishers’ share of their songs, and in the case of titles written before 1978, writers can recapture songs after two consecutive 28-year terms, or 56 years. (That legislation allows for writers of songs issued in or after 1978 to recapture their publishing after 35 years). The Lennon-McCartney catalogue begins hitting the 56-year mark in 2018."
McCartney is using the law to reclaim the rights to his share of 32 songs in the US, though the laws won't apply to his share of the rights in other parts of the world. The first of the 'reclaim by songwriter' reversion of rights will apply from January 2018. For many of the other tracks McCartney is claiming his share of the rights will not be eligible for the claim until 2025. Legal progress is taking place now as artists can make the claim between two and ten years ahead of the 56-year limit.
It's widely accepted that several of the songs McCartney is claiming half the rights for are Lennon solo compositions, but as Beatles songs are all credited to both Lennon and McCartney, Sir Paul is still eligible to claim his half.
Tracks subject to the claim include large parts of the Abbey Road album as well as some tracks from albums released between 1962 and 1964.
Paul McCartney to Appear in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales'
Paul McCartney will be joining Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales — at least for one scene.
The fifth installment of the Disney franchise will see the return of Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush as Barbosa, with Javier Bardem acting as the film's villain. Orlando Bloom will be returning as Will Turner, a role he last played in 2007's At World's End.
The movie has already wrapped production, but directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning will be tacking on an extra scene that will feature McCartney.
McCartney is not the first famed English rocker to appear in the Pirates movies. The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards played Sparrow's swashbuckling dad in At World's End and On Stranger Tides.
During the height of Beatlemania, the singer appeared with his bandmates John, George and Ringo in films such as A Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine.
Tony Barrow, Beatles Publicist Who Coined the Term ‘Fab Four,’ Dies at 80
Tony Barrow, who gave up his career as a journalist and music critic to become the Beatles’ first publicist in 1962, and who for the next six years played a crucial role in shaping the public’s perception of the Fab Four — a nickname he coined, in an early news release — died on Saturday in Morecambe, England. He was 80.
His death was confirmed by the Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who had known Mr. Barrow for 35 years.
In one of his first acts as the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein wrote to Mr. Barrow in December 1961, hoping to get the group mentioned in “Off the Record,” the record review column Mr. Barrow had been writing for The Liverpool Echo, under the pen name Disker, since 1954. The Beatles were then an unsigned dance-hall and bar band, and Mr. Barrow, who had moved to London and also had a job writing liner notes for Decca Records, responded that as a record reviewer, he could do nothing for a band that had not made any recordings.
Mr. Epstein was persistent. While visiting London in the hope of getting the Beatles a record deal, he visited Mr. Barrow and played him a poor-quality live recording of the group. Mr. Barrow was intrigued enough to help Mr. Epstein arrange for the group to audition for Decca.
As it turned out, Decca passed. Told by his boss that he could sign only one group, the label’s Mike Smith signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.
Shortly after the Beatles were signed to Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary, late in 1962, Mr. Epstein invited Mr. Barrow to join his production company, NEMS Enterprises, as senior press and publicity officer. Both Mr. Barrow and his wife, Corrine, doubted the wisdom of leaving a steady corporate job to work with a nascent pop band. But Mr. Epstein offered to double Mr. Barrow’s Decca salary, and Mr. Barrow decided to take the chance.
As a former critic, Mr. Barrow knew what writers wanted, and he filled his early news releases with details about which instrument each Beatle played, and who wrote the songs featured on their singles and albums, as well as fan-friendly information about the Beatles’ backgrounds, interests, ambitions, likes and dislikes. He did the same for other NEMS acts, including Gerry and the Pacemakers and the singers Cilla Black and Billy J. Kramer.
He also wrote detailed liner notes for the Beatles’ early British albums and EPs. And he was directly responsible for several recordings that are now prized by Beatles collectors.
It was at his suggestion that the group made a Christmas disc, to be sent exclusively to members of its fan club, at the end of 1963. The band continued the practice through 1969, filling these seven-inch discs with humorous messages, skits and songs.
It is also thanks to Mr. Barrow that the Beatles’ final live concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on Aug. 29, 1966, was preserved on tape. The Beatles had by then resolved to give up touring, and Paul McCartney had asked Mr. Barrow to tape the show. Standing alone a few feet in front of the stage, he captured most of it on a primitive cassette recorder. The recording was never officially released but has been widely bootlegged.
Mr. Barrow was born in Crosby, a Liverpool suburb, on May 11, 1936, and was educated at Durham University. He began his writing career while still a high school student: Fascinated with music, he persuaded the editor of the Liverpool Echo to give him a column when he was 17. But because the paper did not want it known that its critic was so young, the editor insisted that he use a pseudonym.
Mr. Barrow chose Disker after seeing the American singer Guy Mitchell called “the world’s top-selling disker” in an advertisement.
Mr. Barrow’s survivors include his wife and their two sons, Michael and Mark. He lived in Morecambe.
After Mr. Epstein’s death in 1967, the Beatles sought to distance themselves from NEMS and set up their own company, Apple, which had its own publicity department. Feeling marginalized, Mr. Barrow resigned from NEMS to start his own publicity company, Tony Barrow International (later Tony Barrow Management), with a client roster including MCA Records, the Bee Gees, the Kinks and the Bay City Rollers.
In 1980, he left the publicity business to return to writing and editing. In 2005 he published a memoir, “John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me: The Real Beatles Story.”
Paul McCartney: 'I Was Depressed' After Beatles Split
Paul McCartney recalled his heavy drinking and depression after the Beatles broke-up in 1970 during a candid interview on BBC Radio 4's Mastertapes.
"I was depressed at the time," McCartney said, before paraphrasing Lesley Gore's "It's My Party": "'You would be too if it happened to you.' You were breaking from your lifelong friends. We used to liken it to the army where you'd been army buddies for a few years, and now you weren't going to see them again."
McCartney then referenced another song — the barbershop standard, "Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine" — and said the Beatles' split came somewhat naturally, as the four members grew up, got married and moved away from each other. But the break-up still left McCartney uncertain about his future in music.
"The thing was, how are you gonna do it if you're gonna do it?" McCartney said. "You can't play all the instruments yourself on stage. And I took to the bevvies, I took to a wee dram, and it was great at first and then after a while getting up in the morning, I was a bit far gone and suddenly I wasn't having a good time."
McCartney said it was his wife Linda who convinced him to start a new project. "For some mad reason I wanted to go back to square one and do it as we'd done it in the Beatles. People said, 'Linda can't play keyboards!' And it was true, but John [Lennon] couldn't play guitar when we started — he was playing banjo chords … Looking back on it I'm really glad we did it. I could've just gone into a supergroup and rung up Eric [Clapton] and Jimmy Page, John Bonham, but I wanted to go back. We ended up playing universities and graduated to town halls, and it was funny because I'd been in Shea Stadium quite recently. You had to hold your nerve, but then you do in life."
In the Mastertapes interview, McCartney spoke about Kanye West's 2015 hit "All Day," which recycled an unused Beatles melody originally inspired by Pablo Picasso's painting, Man With a Guitar. While McCartney said the explicit lyrics of "All Day" troubled some close to him, he called it "a great record, sonically it's brilliant," and added: "I love Kanye, and he loves me. He's a monster, he's a crazy guy who comes up with great stuff, so he inspires me."
Watching that video makes me sad. He was such an amazing guy. His affection for Paul evident. Would not have surprised me if he lived the Beatles would have made more music together.
Paul McCartney Mourns Death of Wings Guitarist Henry McCullough
Paul McCartney mourned the death of Wings guitarist Henry McCullough on his official site today. The musician — who was in Wings from 1972 through 1973 — died today at age 72.
"He was a pleasure to work with, a super-talented musician with a lovely sense of humor," McCartney said of his former bandmate. "The solo he played on 'My Love' was a classic that he made up on the spot in front of the orchestra. Our deepest sympathies from my family to his."
McCullough only played on one Wings album, 1973's Red Rose Speedway. He also appeared on the legendary James Bond theme "Live and Let Die" that the band recorded for the film of the same name.
Outside of Wings, the guitarist had a varied career that launched in 1961. He was part of the psychedelic band the People before later joining Joe Cocker's Grease Band and performed during Cocker's legendary set at Woodstock. During his time and with the members of the Grease Band, McCullough played guitar on the album version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.
Following Wings, McCullough became a session musician playing with Eric Burdon, Marianne Faithfull, Roy Harper and Donovan. His voice be heard speaking at the end of Pink Floyd's "Money" on The Dark Side of the Moon where he says: "I don't know. I was really drunk at the time."
As a solo artist, McCullough released 11 albums including his 1975 debut Mind Your Own Business and his final release, 2012's Shabby Road.
Ron Howard's Beatles Doc to Hit Hulu, Select Theaters in September
Ron Howard's documentary about The Beatles has secured a ticket to ride.
On Monday, the producers of The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years announced the film will debut Sept. 17 on Hulu, one day after it rolls out in select U.S. theaters. Hulu scooped up exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the authorized doc in May, launching the streamer's new original documentary division.
Hulu is partnering with indie distributor Abramorama on the film's U.S. theatrical release. Most cinema owners won't play a title that's opening simultaneously on VOD, but a film doesn't need that many screens to qualify for awards season.
White Horse Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Apple Corps Ltd. teamed in making Eight Days a Week. Along with setting the release date, they also revealed the doc's first teaser trailer and poster on Monday.
The film — made with cooperation from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison — recounts the first part of The Beatles' career (1962-1966).
Producers include White Horse Pictures' Nigel Sinclair and Scott Pascucci and Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Howard. Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde of The Beatles' Apple Corps. are serving as executive producers along with Imagine's Michael Rosenberg and White Horse's Guy East and Nicholas Ferrall.
European powerhouse StudioCanal is also a partner on the film, having acquired Eight Days for the U.K., France, Germany and Australia and New Zealand.
A world premiere is planned for Sept. 15 in London.
Thank goodness for stuff like this. I was really afraid that Apple and crew might put out some previously unreleased music, or God forbid,, even the Hollywood Bowl album on CD.
I actually think Hollywood Bowl [and a lotta other stuff] will eventually happen, when certain people pass into the next world, their descendants will be champing at the bit to enrich their own personal fortunes. Just look at all the Elvis reissues. Still, we are many years, decades?, away...
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