THE BEATLES on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!!

For only $3000!
We wish......









On this weekend in 1976 (April 24th to be exact) , Paul and Linda were hanging out with John and Yoko at his New York Dakota apartment and watching Saturday Night Live. Lorne Michaels (the shows producer) came on air and made an offer asking The Beatles to come down and play three songs live....NBC would be willing to cough up $3000 (The Beatles were now broken up for 6 years, and at this point people were already offering millions for the band to reunite).













Lennon and McCartney talked about hopping a taxi over to NBC studios to blow their minds (how sweet would that have been!), but they decided they were too tired and it was too late. Sadly, this we the last time John Lennon and Paul McCartney would see each other face to face.

Later (on May 22nd) Lorne came on again and upped the offer to $3200 plus hotel accommodations. Then in the first half of the next season (on Nov 20th), George Harrison showed up and tried to claim all the money himself. Michaels said that if it was up to him, George could have the money, but NBC wouldn't agree.

Here is the video of the original offer. Below is the audio alone.




When Paul McCartney appeared on the show on February 13th, 1993 he and Lorne were seen talking about the offer during the monologue.

Paul was also on SNL May 17th, 1980.
Ringo Starr hosted the show on the anniversary of John's death on December 8th 1984.
Sadly, John Lennon never appeared on SNL.

Also on April 24th (in 1968), The Beatles brand new company Apple Records turned down the offer to sign a new artist: David Bowie.

Below is a few mp3s...the SNL offer, The Beatles rehearsing "Two of Us" (first slow acoustic, then fast electric), and a rehearsal of "Stand By Me" from the very last time John and Paul were in a studio together in on March 28th 1974) more info on that session here.

SNL Beatle Offer.mp3

a - Two of Us acoustic demo.mp3

20 - Two of Us demo.mp3

08 - Stand By Me3.mp3

THE BEATLES

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

JOHN LENNON

PAUL McCARTNEY

GEORGE HARRISON

RINGO STARR

THIS WEEK IN BEATLE HISTORY!

First off, I want to send a big Thank You to Denise over at the Handmade Department Store blog for running a feature on me and my art today! Very kool. Check her out...it's a new blog, and a great concept promoting artists!

On the heels of two more Grammys last night for the LOVE soundtrack (congratulations Beatles, George Martin & team), I thought we would check out some of the heady Fab Four history that takes place in the middle of February.











2008 2 GRAMMYS!
Best Surround Sound Album: The Beatles, Love -- Paul Hicks, surround mix engineer; Tim Young, surround mastering engineer; George Martin & Giles Martin, surround producers (The Beatles) [Apple/Capitol Records]

Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Love (The Beatles) George Martin & Giles Martin, producers, Apple Records/Capitol Records. (Also nominated but not winning: Across the Universe.)

* NASA beams an MP3 of the Beatles' "Across the Universe" to Polaris, aka the North Star, a transmission that will take 431 years to reach its intended destination. The broadcast is a publicity stunt to variously commemorate the 50th anniversary of the space agency itself, the 45th anniversary of its Deep Space Network, the 40th anniversary of the song's recording—and the DVD release of director Julie Taymor's Beatles-based film musical of the same name.

1982, George Harrison presented UNICEF with a cheque for $9 million (£5.3 million), ten years after the fundraising concert for Bangladesh.

1981, John Lennon was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Woman', his third No.1 in seven weeks.

1972, Paul McCartney's Wings played the first night of a UK College tour in Nottingham; the group arrived unannounced asking social secretaries if they would like them to perform that evening.

* The Official Beatles Fan Club is dissolved.

* John Lennon and Yoko Ono started a week long run as co-hosts on 'Mike Douglas' US TV show.

1970, John Lennon performed 'Instant Karma', on BBC TV's 'Top Of The Pops', becoming the first Beatle to have appeared on the show since 1966.

1969, Over Paul McCartney's objections, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr hire controversial record industry accountant Allen Klein to manage the Beatles. McCartney counters by naming his father-in-law's legal firm Eastman and Eastman as his personal manager and corporate counsel of Apple. The rift will lead to the band's dissolution a year later.

* John and Yoko were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents, (2/6). John was named as Rolling Stone’s ‘Man Of The Year’.

* a launch party was held for Mary Hopkin at the Post Office Tower in London, guests included Jimi Hendrix, Donovan and Paul McCartney with his new girlfriend Linda Eastman.

1968, The Beatles record "Lady Madonna," "The Inner Light," and "Across the Universe."

1967, The Beatles recorded the orchestral build-up for the middle and end of ‘A Day in the Life’. At the Beatles' request, the orchestra members arrived in full evening dress along with novelty items. One violinist wore a red clown's nose, while another a fake gorilla's paw on his bow hand. Others were wearing funny hats and other assorted novelties. The recording was filmed for a possible ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ television special which was ultimately abandoned.

1965, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr married his long-time girlfriend Maureen at Caxton Hall Register Office in London. John and George attended, Paul was away on holiday.

1964, Pan Am flight 101 was greeted by over 5,000 Beatles fans as it arrived at New York's JFK airport, bringing The Beatles to the US for the first time and causing riotous scenes as they touched down.

* The Beatles made their US live debut on CBS-TV's 'The Ed Sullivan Show'; they performed five songs including their current No.1 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' watched by an estimated 73 million people. The show had received over 50,000 applications for the 728 seats in the TV studio.

* The Beatles made their live concert debut in the US at the Washington Coliseum. Over 350 police surrounded the stage to keep the 8,000 plus screaming fans in control. One police officer who found the noise so loud, stuck a bullet in each ear as ear plugs. The Beatles had to stop three times and turn Ringo's drum kit around and re-position their microphones so that they faced a different part of the audience. The set list: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, ‘Twist and Shout’, and ‘Long Tall Sally’.

1963, in less then ten hours, The Beatles record ten new songs for their first album plus four other tracks which would be the next two singles. John Lennon's vocal on The Isley Brothers 'Twist & Shout' was recorded in one take to complete the album.

1961, The Beatles appeared at The Cavern Club, Liverpool, for the very first time (as The Beatles), they would go on to make a total of 292 other appearances at the Club.


1958, George Harrison joined Liverpool group The Quarrymen. The group who were named after Lennon's school featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths and John Lowe.







my portrait of George

I'm going to include a few Harrison treats tonight, since his is the earliest entry in tonight's Beatle History....

The Pirate Song; Aired December 26, 1975, Rutland Weekend Television

George Harrison - The Pirate Song (Rutles).mp3

with Jools Holland

George Harrison - Horse to water.mp3

demo recording

George Harrison - Beware of Darkness (acoustic).mp3

GRAMMYS

BEATLES

GEORGE HARRISON

JOOLS HOLLAND

Handmade Department Store

FAR ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

TWO "Across The Universe" Events occuring next week...Coincidence?

Make sure you play THE BEATLES "Across The Universe" This Monday at 7pm est...with the rest of the world!


NASA Takes The Beatles 'Across the Universe' Literally
By Space.com Staff
From SPACE.com: 01 February 2008:

NASA will beam The Beatles' song, "Across the Universe," into deep space Monday in an unprecedented long distance dedication by the U.S. agency.

NASA's Deep Space Network will transmit the song at 7:00 p.m. EST (0000 Feb. 5 GMT) on Feb. 4 in honor of several cosmic-themed anniversaries.

Monday marks the 40th anniversary of the day the song was recorded. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and the inception of The Beatles. Two other milestones also are being honored including, the 50th anniversary of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, and the 45th birthday of the Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas that supports missions to explore the universe.

The transmission is aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light-years away from Earth, travelling at a speed of 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kps).

"Across the Universe," though credited to "Lennon/McCartney," was principally written by Beatle John Lennon, and the lyrics speak of "limitless undying love which/shines around me like a million suns."

"Amazing! Well done, NASA!" said former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney in a message to the space agency. "Send my love to the aliens."

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, commented: "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe."

NASA has used Beatles music before, notably in November 2005, when McCartney performed the song "Good Day Sunshine" during a concert transmitted to the International Space Station. "Here Comes the Sun," "Ticket to Ride" and "A Hard Day's Night" have also been played in wake-up calls to astronaut crews in orbit.

The public around the world has been invited to participate in the event by playing the song at the same time it is transmitted by NASA.

Many of the senior NASA scientists and engineers involved consider themselves among the group's biggest fans.
[Ed. note: What we would like to know, of course, is if McCartney's group Wings' hit single, "Venus and Mars," will be beamed towards Venus and/or Mars anytime soon.]

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE DVD Due Out Tuesday!

Last year one of the movies that I most eagerly awaited was this wonderful Julie Taymor directed film. Of course, I had some trepidation after the mega disaster that was the 1978 Sgt. Pepper film, but within minutes of the movie's start, all such fears were gone! The film was lovingly produced, and acted, and chalk full of cameos like Bono & Joe Cocker. My only regret was that we saw it only once in the theaters. So, we are ready for the DVD release! Crank Up The Surround Sound!

from IMDB:

An original musical film, Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by The Beatles that defined the time.

Across the Universe by Rufus Wainwright

Across The Universe 10.mp3

Across the Universe by David Bowie

Across The Universe 3.mp3

Across the Universe by Fiona Apple

Across the Universe 4.mp3

Across the Universe by Roger Waters

Across The Universe 9.mp3

Across the Universe by Jackson Browne and Robbie Krieger

11 Across the Universe.m4a

Across the Universe by TheBEATLES The River Rhine Tapes

Across the Universe.mp3

THE BEATLES

JOHN LENNON

DAVID BOWIE

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

FIONA APPLE

ROGER WATERS

BUY THE ACROSS THE UNIVERSE DVD

Across The Universe on WIKIPEDIA

P.S....my brother, Major Tommy, is a featured artist on the
HANDMADE DEPARTMENT STORE blog....he's very talented in
the Handcrafted Jewelry department, as you will see.

They Say It's Your Birthday....

Well, Happy Birthday to Me!

First off, THANK YOU all very the wonderful response and support during my first two weeks of blogging on SPILL THE BEANZ. I've got lots of kool things coming up, I'm lining exclusive interviews, concert & book reviews, lots of art and more! Please be sure to go to the bottom of the page & click the link that says "subcribre to:"...or email me to be kept up to date with new posts.


Today I'm going to share with you a bunch of January 28th related things. This morning I had a great interview with ORLEANS frontman Larry Hoppen, I'll share some of that with you tomorrow when I get done editing. In the meantime I'll share an MP3 or two that he passed along with you....I'll also share with you a recording of another Orleans frontman, John Hall, singing Happy Birthday to me 7 years ago at Kool Beanz, and some great news.


My 10 year old son (The Florida Gators Fan!) sculpted this replica of (my team) the Miami Hurricane's Mascot "Sebastian" for my birthday today - AWESOME!!









Here are a few other notable
1/28 Birthday celebrants:
1887 Arthur Rubinstein
1909 Lionel KP "Buster" Crabb
1912 Jackson Pollock
1929 Acker Bilk
1936 Alan Alda
1943 Dick Taylor (The Pretty Things)
1950 Barbi Benton
1962 Sam Phillips
1968 Sarah McLachlan
1977 Joey Fatone Jr. ('N Sync)
1980 Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys)
1981 Elijah Wood
...and my Unlce Phil....



TODAY: JIMMY PAGE PRESS CONFERENCE ...LED ZEP REUNION?
More From The Associated Press:

Led Zeppelin Guitarist Wants World Tour
By ERIC TALMADGE – 1/28/08

TOKYO (AP) — Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page said Monday he was ready to take the iconic band on a world tour after burning up the stage at last month's reunion concert in London. But it probably won't be before September.

"The amount of work we put into O2 was what you would normally put into a world tour anyway," Page, 64, said of the intense rehearsing the band did for the Dec. 10 concert at London's O2 Arena.

The band's three surviving members — Page, singer Robert Plant and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones — were joined at the sold-out benefit show by the late John Bonham's son Jason on drums.

Page, who was in Japan to promote the new Zeppelin release, "Mothership," said the two-hour-plus concert was proof that Led Zeppelin can still perform at its best.

He said the band, which formed in 1968, was ready musically to get back together and take it out on a wider run, but it was not clear when it would go on tour as the singer had other plans.

"Robert Plant has a parallel project and he is busy with that until September," Page said.

Plant and bluegrass star Alison Krauss will begin their world tour with a run of shows in the southern U.S. this spring. The two released an album in October called "Raising Sand" that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart in the U.S. The duo will tour Europe in May before returning for North American shows still to be announced for June and July.

Page said the band set their standards very high before agreeing to do the reunion, their first in 20 years. Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 after the elder Bonham's death.

Page said they rehearsed for weeks, apprehensive that the cohesion they had in the 1970s when they were at their peak might be hard to rediscover.

"We wanted people who might not have even been alive in 1980 when we finished to understand what we were," he said.

Page said all went well until he broke a finger in three places, forcing the band to postpone the show for several weeks.

"But we did the show, and it was great," he said. "It was instant in terms of chemistry."

ANNOUNCED TODAY:
QTRAX - FREE LEGAL MUSIC DOWNLOADS by Major Artists

from QTrax:

Qtrax is NOT just another P2P network, it provides a complete system for finding and downloading music. The player provides access a web site filled with artist content, including Videos, Ringtones, Lyrics, Album Art, up to the minute artist news! Try finding THAT on any other P2P network. Even better – its FREE AND LEGAL on Qtrax.

One This Day In History.....
January 28th:

1960 - The first photograph bounced off of the moon.
1960 - Zora Neale Hurston died in Fort Pierce, Florida
1964 : Andy Warhol: Andy Warhol starts the Factory, the first works of art were boxes of food
1965 - The Who made their first appearance on the British TV rock show "Ready Steady Go!"
1967 -Rolling Stones release "Let's Spend the Night Together"
1985- the recording took place for 'We Are The World' the US equivalent of Band Aid. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The proceeds went toward worldwide hunger prevention.
1986 : Space Shuttle Challenger explodes during lift-off Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after lift-off killing all seven astronauts, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe. The cause was later determined as a leaking solid rocket booster.
1986 - Joaquin Phoenix: He made his big-screen debut in "Space Camp"
1988- Eleven years after it was released, The Sex Pistols album 'Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols' went Gold in the US with sales over 500,000.
1990 - Aaron Neville sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXIV.
1994- Paul and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of Wayne’s World II in London. The couple then went on to Hard Rock Café, where the film star Mike Myers presented them with a check for LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) for $42,500 from the sale of Linda’s vegetarian burgers.
1996 - Diana Ross performed as the featured halftime performer at Super Bowl XX.
1999 - Anna Kournikova: Won her first double Grand Slam Title in Australia (with Martina Hingis)
1999 - Pat Boone formed the Gold Records label, which will only sign artists 45 years old and up. The first performer signed was Jack Jones.
2007 - Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture was at No.1 on the US album chart. The musical based on the history of Diana Ross and the Supremes featured Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson.




my portrait of original Beatle drummer Pete Best, signed by Pete on my birthday 1995
















Some USA Number 1 Singles on January 28th

1997 "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton
1993 "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston
1987 "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters
1986 "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne and Friends
1985 "Like a Virgin" by Madonna
1984 "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes
1983 "Down Under" by Men at Work
1981 "(Just Like) Starting Over" by John Lennon
1980 "Rock with You" by Michael Jackson
1974 "You're Sixteen" by Ringo Starr
1973 "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
1972 "American Pie" by Don McLean
1971 "Knock Three Times" by Dawn
1970 "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by B. J. Thomas
1969 "I Heard It through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye
1968 "Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)" by John Fred and His Playboy Band
1967 "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees
1966 "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
1965 "Downtown" by Petula Clark
1962 "Peppermint Twist - Part I" by Joey Dee and the Starliters
1960 "Running Bear" by Johnny Preston


Below are some MP3s for your enjoyment. You'll hear from the "Dancin' and We're Still Havin' Fun" DVD and CD by ORLEANS...and a solo track from Larry Hoppen.

"Dancin' In The Moonlight" from the ORLEANS Live DVD/CD

3 Dancin' In The Moonlight.mp3

LARRY HOPPEN solo

10 Love Is Love.mp3

JOHN HALL @ KOOL BEANZ

JavaJohn BirthdayBlues.mp3

ORLEANS

LARRY HOPPEN

JOHN HALL

ROCK & POP MASTERS

(Congressman) JOHN HALL

PETE BEST

LED ZEPPELIN

QTRAX

SUNSHINE FOR HIV KIDS

RINGO is having a PARTY!

And We're All invited!!

Last week Ringo Starr released his newest, the acclaimed LIVERPOOL 8. Some reports are saying that this is the best Ringo material since the mid `70's. And that's saying something because several of his recent CDs (in the past 15 years) like Vertical Man, Choose Love, and Time Takes Time ALL had some wonderful tunes on them.

In celebration of this new release , Ringo Starr & Dave Stewart will perform a set of Ringo's songs LIVE at an exclusive event - 1pm PST this Friday, January 25 at the L.A. House Of Blues There will ALSO be a LIVE webcast on Ringo's official site!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME TO THE PARTY:
Amoeba Music in Hollywood and Los Angeles' KLOS 95.5 FM are giving you a chance to 'bypass the line' and guarantee your entry! (See Ringo's Site for Details)...damn, I'd be there if I were on that coast. If anyone goes, please report back!


Another favorite band of mine London's VAN TRAMP, will have their own live webcast the night before Ringo's. This is from their MySpace: "Don't live in London? Can't come to the Borderline gig on Thursday? Well you don't have to miss out on the action as the show is being streamed live over the Internet. See the banner at the top of our MySpace front page for more info and links..."


Ringo Starr: Liverpool 8 Track listing:

1. Liverpool 8
2. Think About You
3. For Love
4. Now That She’s Gone Away
5. Gone Are The Days
6. Give It A Try
7. Tuff Love
8. Harry’s Song
9. Pasodobles
10. If It’s Love That You Want
11. Love Is
12. R U Ready?


BUY LIVERPOOL 8



my portrait signed by ringo!

Ringo performed on the Letterman show tonight, playing the title track from "Liverpool 8" - Classic Ringo!

The first time I saw Ringo live he flew down to Miami Beach (BOAC) with The Beach Boys after their annual concert in Washington D.C. on the afternoon of July 4th, 1984. The Beach Boys decided to do another free concert on the beach that same day! Ringo came out to sing "Back in the USSR", and play drums on "Fun, Fun, Fun" and another tune while the fireworks went off!, whew! Also on hand were the three vocalists from Three Dog Night, and Justin Hayward & John Lodge of the Moody Blues.

On July 9th 2006, my wife and I had the pleasure of bringing (our then 8yr old) son to see Ringo and his All-Starr band in Concert! What a night, Ringo still has it!

Ringo Starr/Beach Boys Miami Beach July 4th-1984

Ringo Starr - Back in the U.S.S.R.mp3

RINGO STARR' OFFICIAL WEBSITE

THE BEATLES

VAN TRAMP's MySpace