The Beatles in Pictures - Quiz 2

While we are waiting for Beatle Week to begin in Liverpool, I thought of entertaining you with a small Beatles Quiz.

I took this picture here above in Austria. Which Beatles song do you think it represents?

Beatles in Pictures - Quiz 1

Here above you can see a picture I took. It is based on a Beatles song. Can you guess which one?

The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles

In the first week of August 1964, the famous cartoon figures of The Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, Theodore) released a tribute album to The Beatles.

The original LP contained 12 songs, later re-released often only 10.

Track List

Side One
1."All My Loving"
2."Do You Want to Know a Secret"
3."She Loves You"
4."From Me to You"
5."Love Me Do"
6."Twist and Shout" (P. Medley/B. Russel)

Side Two
1."A Hard Day's Night"
2."P.S. I Love You"
3."I Saw Her Standing There"
4."Can't Buy Me Love"
5."Please Please Me"
6."I Want to Hold Your Hand"

The Beatles Live at the Seattle Coliseum

August 21, 1964 was a special day for Seattle. The Beatles appeared for the first time at the Seattle Coliseum (they would come back two years later on August 25, 1966). Almost 15,000 fans saw them play a 30-minute set.

Just before the concert The Beatles held a quick press conference.

Here is a snippet from that conference, where The Beatles talk about the constant screaming that accompanied their gigs:

Q: "Well, it was said in Las Vegas and in Frisco that your performance couldn't be heard because of the noise. Now, how do you feel about this? Do you consider it might hurt your future concerts?"

PAUL: "It's been going on for a couple of years, you know."

Q: "How many more years do you think it will go on?"

PAUL: "Don't know. We're not..."

JOHN: "We're not taking bets."

Q: "Have you got any idea? Will it be three? Four? What do you think?"

GEORGE: "Till death do us part."

(laughter)

Before the concert there were the usual opening acts: Bill Black Combo, Exciters, Righteous Brothers and Jackie DeShannon.

The Beatles played: "All My Lovin,' "Twist and Shout," "You Can't Do That," "She Loves You," "Can't Buy Me Love," "If I Fell In Love With You," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Boys", and "Roll Over Beethoven."
They ended the concert with "Long Tall Sally.

Here is a trip down memory lane from Suzie B.

I was 15 on August 21, 1964, and it was the summer before I started high school (which started in 10th grade then). I thought I had kept the ticket stub to the concert, but I just looked and couldn't find it. I did find a diagram of the seating in the Seattle Coliseum, and I had documented my seat number. I am thinking the ticket cost $4. I remember the seat was up high, and Jackie DeShannon was one of the warm-up acts.

I tried to resist the whole Beatlemania thing, but that did not last long. My friends and I were just gaga over them (and all things British). I had to acknowledge that Paul was the cutest, but John was the most appealing to me. Yes, I knew he was married, but that was no match for a schoolgirl crush.

I tried to sing Twist and Shout just like John--I couldn't do it without ruining my voice for a day or so, so it's good to know that he couldn't either.

p.s. The Seattle Coliseum is now called the KeyArena (formerly the Washington State Pavilion, Washington State Coliseum and Seattle Center Coliseum).

The Beatles 5 times in the Classics 100 edition 2014

Every year the Flemish radio station Radio 1 publishes a list (compiled by listeners) of "classic" songs.

This year, The Beatles were featured 5 times. Here the top 10 and the other Beatles positions

1. Stairway to heaven - Led Zeppelin

2. Born to run - Bruce Springsteen

3. Like a hurricane - Neil Young

4. Martha - Tom Waits

5. Child in time - Deep Purple

6. Like a rolling stone - Bob Dylan

7. A day in the life - The Beatles

8. Wish you were here - Pink Floyd

9. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

10.Ne me quitte pas - Jacques Brel

15. Imagine - John Lennon

42. Hey Jude - the Beatles

50. Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles

78. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles

91. Here comes the Sun - the Beatles

The Beatles take the top 5 positions in Billboard

What happened on 4 April 1964 is not very likely to happen ever again.

On that day The Beatles occupied the top 5 positions in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And not only that, they also had 7 other songs in the top 100!


    1: Can't Buy Me Love (Capitol)
    2: Twist And Shout (Tollie)
    3: She Loves You (Swan)
    4: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Capitol)
    5: Please Please Me (Vee Jay)
    31: Saw Her Standing There (Capitol)
    41: From Me To You (Vee Jay)
    46: Do You Want To Know A Secret (Vee Jay)
    58: All My Loving (Capitol)
    65: You Can't Do That (Capitol)
    68: Roll Over Beethoven (Capitol)
    79: Thank You Girl (Vee Jay)

Country and Western Songs by The Bealtes

The Beatles are primarily known for being a straight Rock 'n Roll band (in the early '60s) and later on a band that changed the face of popular music, but they have also had some Country & Western-influenced songs.

The most famous one will probably be Rocky Raccoon from the White Album, but there are many more (and Ringo would later go on to record a whole bunch of them on Beaucoup of Blues).

Here are some that you might consider listening to:

- Act Naturally: a Ringo cover of a Buck Owens country song

- What Goes On (the only song credited to Lennon-McCartney-Starkey)

- Don't Pass Me By (again Ringo)

- I'll Cry instead

- Many songs on Beatles for Sale - I've Just Seen a Face: a Paul McCartney song that was influenced by Country & Western. In an interview Paul says: "It was slightly country and western from my point of view... it was faster, though, it was a strange uptempo thing". If it had been slowed down a bit, it would have been pure country. And if you had added fiddle and banjo, you might even have had a bluegrass or cajun song!

p.s. why was Ringo so fascinated with Country & Western?
Well, first of all, he watched a lot of cowboy movies and read cowboy comics when he was young. Allegedly the name Ringo comes from a character (Johnny Ringo) that took part at the Gunfight at O.K. Corral.

Later on Ringo joined a band called The Raving Texans and even Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were performing Country & Western songs in their setlist.