Rassegna Stampa a cura di Luca Mantini
www.domani21aprile2009.it
May 2009
ROMA, 5 MAG - Jovanotti, Giuliano Sangiorgi and Mauro Pagani have announced Domani 21/04.09, the musical project for the benefit of Abruzzo region, starring 56 outmost famous Italian musicians.
The song, written by Pagani, will be broadcast by Italian radio stations starting from the 6th of may, a month from the earthquake. The song will be on sale in digital stores and the cd (with the the full version, instrumental and a videoclip) will be sold in stores for 5 euros. "Our challenge", said Jovanotti, "is to sell one million copies of the cd".
Madonna Donates Money to Italian Earthquake Victims
(from: people.com)
April 2009
When a devastating earthquake struck the Abruzzo region of Italy on Monday, the mayor of the hamlet of Pacentro made an appeal for help to the granddaughter of two former townspeople. The following morning, that granddaughter responded in a big way.
Madonna, whose paternal grandparents lived in Pacentro until 1919, made a "substantial donation" for the relief effort following the 6.3 magnitude quake that left more than 200 dead, says her publicist Liz Rosenberg. The rep wouldn't give the amount, but a source says it's about $500,000.
"I am happy to lend a helping hand to the town that my ancestors are from," Madonna tells PEOPLE. "My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones or their homes."
McCARTNEY AND STARR REUNITED ON STAGE
(from: www.huffingtonpost.com)
Aprill 2009
NEW YORK — An all-star concert on meditation brought Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr together for their first performance together in seven years.
The reunion of McCartney and Starr, the surviving members of the Beatles, was the highlight of the "Change Begins Within" concert on Saturday night. The event was held at Radio City Music Hall to benefit the David Lynch Foundation, which aims to teach at-risk youth meditation techniques.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Shears," McCartney told the crowd, referring to the fictional character on the classic Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," as Starr emerged and immediately launched into his part in the Beatles' classic "With a Little Help from My Friends."
McCartney and Starr last performed together in 2002 at the Concert for George, which honored former Beatles George Harrison at London's Royal Albert Hall a year after Harrison's death.
Saturday's concert, which also featured Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder, Donovan and others, ran for about four hours. But McCartney had thousand of fans on their feet as he hit the stage near the show's end. Opening with a spirited version of "Drive My Car," he went through a generous selection of Beatles and Wings classics, from "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Let It Be" to "Jet" and "Band on the Run."
McCartney remembered John Lennon by playing "Here Today," a song he wrote for the former Beatle, slain in 1980.
For the encore, McCartney was joined on stage by Donovan, Crow, Mike Love (of the Beach Boys), Vedder, Paul Horn, and of course, Starr on drums.
After an epic version of "Cosmically Conscious," he launched into the crowd-pleasing "I Saw Her Standing There."
Other key moments of the night included an energetic cover of Queen's "Under Pressure" by Vedder and Ben Harper, while Crow paid tribute to Harrison with a harmonious version of his "My Sweet Lord."
Between the music, the night's stars talked about the power of meditation to overcome problems.
Howard Stern said he has meditated for 37 years, told the crowd that he credits meditation for saving his mother from depression.
He was followed by Starr's three-song set. Starr introduced the Beatles song "Boys" by saying: "I've been playing this next song longer than Howard Stern has meditated."
.
YOKO ONO, JOHN BALDESSARI TO BE HONOURED IN VENICE
(from: google)
February 2009
ROME (AFP) — Avant-garde artists Yoko Ono and John Baldessari will be honoured with career Golden Lions at this year's Venice Biennale for having "revolutionised the language of art," organisers said Tuesday.
The exhibit to be held June 7 to November 22 in the Renaissance city will recognise two artists "whose ground-breaking activities have opened new poetic, conceptual and social possibilities for artists around the globe," the show's curator Daniel Birnbaum said in a statement.
"Their work has revolutionised the language of art and will remain a source of inspiration for generations to come," said the Swedish art critic and philosopher.
The lifetime achievement Golden Lions are to be bestowed on June 6 during the Mostra's inauguration.
Titled "Making Worlds," this year's Biennale will focus on the creative process, Birnbaum said in October.
The show will be "closer to the process of production and the venues of creation and training -- the studio, the laboratory -- than traditional museum-style exhibitions," he said.
"A work of art is more than an object, or a product. It represents a vision of the world and, if taken seriously, can be considered as a way of building worlds," said Birnbaum, who heads Frankfurt's Stadelschule Art Academy.
Among countries to take part for the first time in the 53rd edition of the Mostra are the United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Montenegro, Pakistan and South Africa.
Iran, Morocco and New Zealand will be staging a return.
The last 2007 art edition awarded a Golden Lion lifetime achievement to Malian photographer Malick Sidibe, who became the first African to clinch the top honour.
Ono, 76, the widow of slain former Beatle John Lennon, was a "pioneer in performance and conceptual art," Tuesday's statement said, adding that "she is one of the most influential artists of our time."
It added: "Long before becoming an icon in popular culture and in peace activism, she developed artistic strategies that have left a lasting mark both in her native Japan and in the West."
Californian Baldessari, 78, is "one of today's most important visual artists (who) above all developed a visual language entirely his own," the statement said. "Since the 1960s, he has worked in many disciplines and has produced an outstanding body of work that has inspired several generations of artists."
THE U.S. VS JOHN LENNON
(from: wikipedia)
April 2007
The U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON is a 2006 documentary film about British musician John Lennon's transformation from a member of The Beatles to a rallying anti-war activist striving for world peace during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The film also details the attempts by the United States government under President Richard Nixon to silence him.
The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
It was released in New York City and Los Angeles, California on 15 September 2006, and had a nationwide release on 29 September.
A soundtrack composed of John Lennon tracks was released by Capitol Records and EMI on 26 September 2006.
The film is distributed by Lions Gate Films, which also distributed Michael Moore's 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11. It makes extensive use of archival footage of Yoko and John, and includes a famously hard-hitting interview conducted by anti-war reporter Gloria Emerson.
The U.K. release was on December 8, 2006, 26 years to the day after the death of John Lennon. The DVD was released on February 13, 2007 in the United States.
The U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON
Directed by John Scheinfeld II, David Leaf
Produced by Sandra Stern, Kevin Beggs, Tom Ortenberg
Written by John Scheinfeld II, David Leaf
Starring Tariq Ali Walter Cronkite Mario Cuomo Angela Davis John Lennon G. Gordon Liddy George McGovern Richard Nixon Yoko Ono Geraldo Rivera Bobby Seale Gore Vidal
Music by John Lennon
Cinematography James Mathers III
Editing by Peter S. Lynch II
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
Release date(s) 15 September 2006
Running time 99 min.
Language English
U2, REM, OTHERS RECORD JOHN LENNON COVERS
(from: therockradio.com)
March 2007
U2, R.E.M., Green Day, Snow Patrol, Christina Aguilera, Jack Johnson, Corinne Bailey Rae, the Postal Service, Regina Spektor, and other acts have all recorded covers of John Lennon songs, for an album called Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur, a tribute to the late Beatle that will benefit Amnesty International's campaign to end the Darfur genocide.
Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, is donating all publishing royalties from the album to the Darfur campaign.
Instant Karma will arrive in stores on June 12th. R.E.M.'s take on "#9 Dream" is the first single from the set, and is now available for download via iTunes.
The track features the band's original drummer Bill Berry, who left the band in the late '90s. This the first time the band has reunited in the studio with Berry. Other tracks set for inclusion are U2's cover of "Instant Karma," Green Day's version of "Working Class Hero," Christina Aguilera's recording of "Mother," the Cure tackling "Love," Snow Patrol doing "Isolation" and the Black Eyed Peas performing "Power to the People." Backstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York City Monday (March 12th), R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe explained why they chose "#9 Dream':. "R.E.M. covered the song 'Number Nine Dream' with Bill Berry playing drums. We chose that song because there are no lyrics in the chorus and that seemed fitting for my earlier lyrical attempts."
YOKO ONO: YES, I'M A WITCH
(from: citypages.com)
February 06 2007
Is there really anyone left who thinks this woman is guilty of crimes against rock 'n' roll?
Any people who actually pay attention to new music and don't spend all their time muttering to themselves and stroking vinyl in their basements?
Didn't think so.
Let's consider this album a fresh start for a musician who deserves a chance with young ears.
On Yes, I'm A Witch, 16 artists each pick an Ono vocal track and provide it with a new backdrop, to varying degrees of success. In some cases, the collaborators' degree of involvement makes all the difference.
Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) and Ono trade lines of cynic-countering wisdom on "Revelations," a simple, poignant piano ballad.
Yet somehow Robert Schneider's nasal backups at the end of the Apples in Stereo's "No One Can See Me Like You Do" feel unnecessary and a bit intrusive.
The Polyphonic Spree apply their usual formula with great results, restraining themselves during Ono's meekly delivered verses but turning the chorus of "You and I" into another sun-bursting-through-the-clouds sing-along. (Given the unfortunate slot immediately following the Spree, Spiritualized's barrage of guitar feedback and wind chimes sounds less grand by comparison.)
Advertisement Most artists choose to highlight Ono's often overlooked talent for delicate melodies, particularly Antony and the Johnsons' lush but never overbearing accompaniment to "Toy Boat."
But DJ Spooky's laid-back beat and record scratch scribble integrate the experimental vocalese that earned her a spot as an MST3K punch line. Those ululations and grunts have a place in pop music after all.
UNSEEN REMNANTS OF LENNON'S LIVERPOOL LIFE
GO ON SHOW IN OLD HOME
(from: Daily Post)
July 19 2005
Unseen childhood paintings and drawings by John Lennon have gone on display at his Liverpool home.
The pictures are among items of memorabilia loaned to the National Trust by his widow Yoko Ono to commemorate what would have been his 65th year.
Other items on display include school reports, a National Identity card, and a milk tooth
A passport issued in 1960 chronicles Lennon's globe-trotting around the world with the Fab Four right up until the band's split ten years later. School reports outline 15-year-old Lennon's dislike of subjects such as maths, with one teacher complaining that "He (Lennon) never really makes a sensible effort".
The memorabilia is on show at Mendips, the home that Lennon lived in with his beloved Auntie Mimi which now houses a collection of Lennon's artefacts.
The house, in Woolton, was bought by Yoko Ono in 2002 and donated to the National Trust which oversees the upkeep of the property.
Shelagh Johnston, from Yoko Ono's advisory board said: "These pieces give a real insight into the mind of a young man who would go on to change the world with his music and politics."
National Trust Property Manager, Simon Osborne said: "This is particularly poignant in terms of John's paintings which would have been displayed in the house for family and visitors originally."
RINGO STARR: POSTCARDS FROM THE BOYS
(from: www.cbsnews.com)
June 19 2005
We'll never lose affection for the Beatles, for the times and the places we remember, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Lagattuta, reporting for Sunday Morning.
Those times and places were captured in of all things, postcards. Ordinary postcards. Ringo Starr always loved postcards, and asked his fellow Beatles to send him one whenever they got a chance. They did, from wherever they were, even long after they were the Beatles.
The cards were read, then put away and then, like some memories, forgotten. Five or six years ago, Starr found a huge trunk that had more than a 100 postcards from John, Paul and George to Ringo. Starr has turned the postcards, and his memories about them, into a book, "Postcards From the Boys," with his royalties going to charity. "Some memories come flashing back," Starr tells Lagattuta, "but if you look at the book, there are some cards I have no idea what it means.
I mean, you know it was 40 years or whatever, but at the time, it must have been really important." Some were addressed to his real name, Richard Starkey, others just to Ringo. There were silly cards, drawings, and words of affection. Paul McCartney wrote him one that said, "You are the greatest drummer in the world."
Starr explains, "I had left the Beatles. I just felt it wasn't working, just felt, sort of on the sidelines. And I thought those three were really close. So I went over to John's and I said, 'You know, I really feel you three are really close and I'm not part of it anymore.' He says, 'I thought it was you three.' So I went over to Paul's and I said, 'You know, I've got to get out of here because you three are really close and I feel on the sideline.' He said, 'I thought it was you three.' So I thought, 'Wow, it's too crazy, I'm getting out of town.' " "Well, they wanted me to come back. And you know, John sent telegrams and Paul wrote this. And when I got back, George had the whole studio decorated in flowers. So it was really beautiful day." The cards aren't so much the history of the Beatles as historical fragments.
John from Japan meeting Yoko's parents. Paul from India and a visit to the Maharishi, triggering memories from Ringo of the first time they met the guru. "He wasn't sure who the Beatles were," Starr recalls. The Maharishi may have been the only one. So great was their fame, it's remarkable these postcards ever got delivered. "Just a postcard sent through the mail, from John Lennon to Ringo, and it arrives. I don't know if it would arrive today, you know what I mean?...
June 09 2005
Let's face it, expectations are not high when it comes to Ringo Starr's solo work.
That's why it's almost impossible not to like the drummer's latest work, Choose Love.
While the least-talented Beatle has had the least spectacular solo career, he makes up for his shortcomings with charm and charisma -- and a decent song or two, more often than not with a little help from his friends.
On this latest effort, which Ringo produced and co-wrote all 12 songs, the ghost of his former band is all pervasive, almost to the point of distraction.
Sometimes he looks so deep into the past, Choose Love sounds like outtakes of a Beatles greatest hits collection, or at least a distant cousin.
A copped guitar lick here from Taxman, a name-check of the The Long and Winding Road there, the Beatles are clearly on Ringo's mind.
That is never more obvious than on Oh My Lord, a song clearly written about George Harrison, who died in 2001. With a chorus and melody evoking Harrison's hit My Sweet Lord, Ringo sings of darkness and fear, calling out "Oh my lord, I need your love so bad."
Ringo touches on sadness, loneliness and loss without becoming maudlin, thanks in large part to jaunty rhythms that wouldn't be out of place on a Traveling Wilburys' disc.
With his earnest delivery, and consistent message, it makes his answer to life's problems -- see the album's title -- all the more persuasive.
LENNON'S WORK SHINES ON IN EXHIBIT
Like his music, John Lennon's art was simple.
Both his thin, black-ink lines dancing across paper and his gentle vocals on a recording evoke the message of love, said Rudy Siegel, who brings Lennon's art at St. Armands Circle in Sarasota (FL).
"John was able to convey an emotion or message in few lines", Siegel said. "Most of the time, he was drawing himself, and he had all these different perceptions of himself."
"When I'm Sixty Four: The Artwork of John Lennon" features more than 100 drawings, sketches and other art from the legendary musician and political provocateur.
The three-day exhibit at St. Armands Circle is a celebration of a true artist whose work transcends mediums, giving visitors another side of Lennon, Siegel said.
"Most people don't realize he was an artist, and when they come out, they are blown away by the amount of artwork he did,"
Although most of the works are prints, the event features 10 original ink drawings, as well as rare works from the "Bag One" suite signed by Lennon in 1970.
There are also serigraphs, lithographs, copper etchings and aqua tints of his drawings signed by his widow, Yoko Ono.
"This is the largest collection of Lennon artwork that you'll ever see in one place," Siegel said.
The exhibit takes place under tents in the park at the center of St. Armands Circle, and also showcases Lennon's 1965 Mercedes and fellow Beatle Paul McCartney's 1963 Mini Cooper.
Donations from the event will benefit the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
There are two previously unreleased pieces on display in the exhibition, including "Starting Over", a rendition of a photo from John's and Yoko's wedding showing the two kissing.
"If you step far back, it looks like a big mass of lines, and as you get closer, you see the two kissing,".
"When I'm 64" is the latest incarnation of a traveling exhibit created 10 years ago that showcases work Lennon created between 1968 and 1980.
"People like his artwork for the same reasons they like his music," Siegel said. "The pieces are simple and they speak to the masses.
"His art is bittersweet. When people leave, they are either crying or smiling." >>
Imagine IMAGINE - LIKE A PEBBLE IN A POND
Like a pebble in a pond Imagine, the famous song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, has been rippling all over the world. Imagine IMAGINE, the documentary directed by Frederick Baker in 2003 was awarded the World Gold Medal for feature documentaries in the category Film and Video at the New York Festivals 2005. Fiorella Dorotea Gentile interviews Baker... >>
ROLLING STONE GATHERS CANVAS
(from: news.bbc.co.uk)
A portrait of music legend John Lennon by rock veteran Ronnie Wood go on display in Belfast.
The piece is one of a number in an exhibition of the Rolling Stone's artwork unveiled on Tuesday 15 February, 2005.
The touring exhibition, at the Tom Caldwell Gallery on Lisburn Road, has already been to New York and Hong Kong.
Best known as a guitarist, the rocker was born into a family of enthusiastic artists. The exhibition opens to the public on Wednesday.
As well as the former Beatle, who he knew when they both lived in New York, Jack Nicholson, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison feature in the tour.
During the war, before the musician was born, the Wood family saw out air raids in a bomb shelter in the garden of their home in London.
His brothers, Art and Ted, would fill the hours by drawing, with their dad Arthur teaching them.
Ronnie Wood followed his brothers to art school and his first job was as a signwriter.
"I draw people whenever I can, in the studio, in the control room - when I get a bit of time I just do a quick sketch," Ronnie said.
THE NEW MUSICAL BASED ON THE LIFE AND SONGS OF JOHN LENNON
(from: www.lennonthemusical.com)
LENNON, the new Broadway musical based on the life and songs of John Lennon announced today that Yoko Ono has given Don Scardino, the show's writer and director, permission to use three rare and unpublished songs by John Lennon for the musical. Two of the songs, "India, India" and "I Don't Want to Lose You" were never published, and exist only on private recordings. A third song, "Cookin' (in the Kitchen of Love)," was recorded by Ringo Starr in 1976, but was never recorded by John Lennon
The songs represent John Lennon at various stages in his life. "India, India" was written during the Beatles' visit to India in 1968. "I Don't Want to Lose You" is a Lennon song that was provided by Yoko Ono to complete "The Beatles Anthology" in 1990, but an electronic glitch made it impossible to include the song.
LENNON will play at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California from April 12th - May 14th and then at the Colonial Theater in Boston, Massachusetts from May 31st - June 25th. >>
Beginning February 13th, tickets go on sale to the general public for the upcoming San Francisco engagement of LENNON, the world premiere musical based on the life and songs of John Lennon.
Tickets for LENNON, ranging in price from $35, will be available through Ticketmaster by calling (415) 512-7770. Tickets are also available in person at the Orpheum Theatre (1192 Market at 8th) Box Office and at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers. For groups of 20 or more, call Group Sales at (415) 551-2020.
ABOUT THE IMAGINE CAMPAIN
(from: www.amnestyusa.org/imagine)
Yoko Ono Lennon has given Amnesty International a wonderful and generous gift: the rights to use her late husband's song "Imagine" in a campaign for human rights. In her words:
"Those who know the song 'Imagine' understand that it was written with a very deep love for the human race and a concern for its future. It is about the betterment of the world for our children and ourselves. Like the song, Amnesty International gives a voice to the importance of human rights. And like the song, it has been able to effect change."
“Imagine” expresses the hope and idealism that inspire Amnesty International’s vision: that of a world in which every person enjoys all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In its appeal to the power of imagination, the song echoes Amnesty International’s faith in the power of the ordinary individual to make a difference... (Read the complete interwiew with Yoko)
EXHIBITION MARKS LENNON HERITAGE
(from: www.bbc.co.uk)
Thursday, 6th May 2004
John Lennon's widow has attended the launch of a special art exhibition which marks her late husband's Irish heritage.
Yoko Ono visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, where works by more than 100 of Ireland's contemporary artists are on display.
The art and an accompanying book are also on sale, with the proceeds going to the human rights group Amnesty International.
That group was close to the hearts of both John and Yoko.
She told the BBC: "It is very important, because he (John) had a lot to do with world peace and what we believed in, in terms of Amnesty."
"But also, John was Liverpool-Irish and he was very proud of his lineage."
Northern Ireland artists Wille Doherty and Paul Seawright have contributed pieces to the display.
Works by Guggi, a friend of U2's lead singer Bono, are also on display as well as those by perhaps the most famous of all contemporary Irish artists, Louis LeBrocquy.
The exhibition is open to the public from Friday until 23 May 2004. Admission is free.
JOHN LENNON MUSICAL COMING SOON
(from www.soulshine.ca)
Fri 30th Apr 2004
Broadway musicals seem to be the way to go lately as Queen, Billy Joel and ABBA have all lent their songs to them. John Lennon's music will be the next to appear in theatre houses across the United States. Not only will Lennon's songs be featured in the production, but the story is centered on his life. In addition to showcasing Lennon's music career, the creators of the musical hope to portray him as the important and powerful cultural figure that he was during his lifetime. Most of the songs that will be used in the musical will be Lennon's solo work, although some Beatle songs will also be heard.
Yoko Ono has given the project that has been in the works for three years, her blessing.
As most people know, John Lennon was a part of the biggest band ever, which went by the name of the Beatles. The group eventually disbanded in 1970, producing hits like 'Yesterday', 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. The influence the Beatles have had on the entire world of music cannot be measured in any way, shape or form.
After the Beatles broke up, Lennon went on to pursue a solo career; he was probably more successful solo than any of the other Beatles have been. He also went on to release albums with his wife Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. Before he was shot on December 8th, 1980 by a deranged fan, John Lennon left us with the timeless antiwar songs 'Imagine' and 'Give Peace a Chance'.
Writer: Jaclyn Arndt
LENNON'S JUKEBOX
Sun 14th Mar 2004
A few years ago, a portable jukebox was discovered which belonged to John Lennon in the 1960s.
The jukebox contains a fascinating tracklist, written in Lennon's own handwriting, of 40 records including soul, R&B and rock & roll.
These are the songs which shaped Lennon's musical education and they reveal many of the original sources of inspiration for his later songwriting.
This South Bank Show takes John Lennon's jukebox back on the road to meet the artists featured on it who influenced Lennon and The Beatles including:
The Isley Brothers whose screaming vocal style The Beatles copied on Twist & Shout; American R & B singer Ritchie Barrett who sang the original Some Other Guy; blues guitarist Bobby Parker whose guitar lick The Beatles borrowed for I Feel Fine; Delbert McClinton who influenced Lennon's harmonica playing on Love Me Do; Donovan who taught Lennon folk guitar style in India.
We also meet Little Richard, Fontella Bass, John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful, Steve Cropper of Booker T & The MGs, legendary songwriters Leiber & Stoller and pop superstar Sting.
This musical feast has original performances by Gene Vincent, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Booker T and The MGs and, of course, The Beatles.
JOHN LENNON'S JUKEBOX, narrated by Lennon himself through archive radio interviews, gives new insight into the creation of Lennon's songwriting genius.
Says Lennon; "In the early days, I would often write a melody, a lyric in my head to some other song because I can't write music.
"So I would carry it around as somebody else's song and then change it when putting it down on paper, or down on tape - consciously change it because I knew somebody's going to sue me or everybody's going to say 'what a rip off' ".
Produced by Initial (part of Endemol UK) for ITV1 Producer & Director - Christopher Walker
ONO'S LONDON ODYSSEY
Yoko Ono opened her latest art exhibition in LONDON at a star-studded party last night (February 2).
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and Graham Coxon joined Ono at the launch of 'Odyssey Of A Cockroach' at the ICA East gallery.
Ono says the exhibition, which runs until March 7, is inspired by propaganda.
She revealed: "Right now we are so steeped in the psychodrama we have created, we can no longer see our reality, except through the influences of various propaganda.
"I have decided to be a cockroach for a day, and see what is happening in this city (New York) through its eyes. Since we can easily say that New York City is the cultural centre of our society, I have taken various pictures of the city's comers and presented them from a cockroaches point of view. Through the eyes of this other strong race, we may learn the reality of what our dreams and nightmares have created."
...the fact that I was an underdog probably appealed to him...
(from: www.salon.com)
In recent years, Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon have enjoyed a mother and child reunion in the form of creative collaboration, with Sean's band IMA supporting Ono both on stage and in the studio. Recently, Ono spoke with Salon about the similarities between John and Sean, and the differences between now and then.
Was working with your son different from previous recording experiences?
It was very different from previous experiences, but it was also a reminder of when John and I did Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. It was that kind of feeling. I felt that Sean was very supportive of me, just like John. So there were no sort of silly questions, you know, like "Why are you screaming Yoko?" [laughs]. It was good. Sean and others in the group, Timo Ellis and Sam Koppleman, they're from the now generation, but they found it easy to communicate.
Did Sean absorb your aesthetic sensibility by osmosis? It seems like a mother and son might have a pretty organic bond.
Very organic. But I naturally assumed that when he grows up he would respect his father's work a lot. Never thought he would even listen to mine. I never pushed it or even explained it to him, but then I'm seeing him playing my old records and all that -- I was surprised.
Why wouldn't he be interested in his mother's work?
I automatically expected that because my work is the work of an outsider, and his dad is very mainstream. Well, he created the mainstream. So it's natural for Sean to go to that. But the fact that I was an underdog probably appealed to him. And it's worked out very well for the mother and son relationship. If I was successful he might've gone the other way. But he is very much into Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, all the oldies. I think this generation -- not just him but his friends, too -- have an incredible amount of musical knowledge. They're lucky to have such a rich history.
Did you ever pull rank on him as a mom?
On a musical level we understood each other well. I was expecting some musical arguments but there wasn't much of that. But there were things I wanted to teach him -- you don't waste session time, time is valuable in the studio. You don't keep doing it over and over. You do it right the first time, and maybe I'll give you a second chance, but not a fourth or fifth. It's a good attitude to learn in the beginning, it will make him more focused on it. That's the kind of thing I try to tell the band -- this is not play time, it's doing it right time.
Did the other guys in the band treat you like Sean's mom?
No. Well, there was a little bit of that, you know, 'We can be lax because she's only Sean's mom.' But once they got into the music, it was very productive. And the way Sean was supportive was similar to how John was in the studio.
It seems to me that the keynote of the new album is that line in "Rising": Have courage/Have rage/We're rising. Do you believe anger is an energy, as John Lydon once put it?
Yes. But not if it's misdirected, at your friends or your close family. Usually we do that because we have this innate anger, which started probably when we were born, when they slapped us and cut the umbilical cord before we wanted it cut, you know? It's a big shock to come out into a new world and start life like that. And then you're subjected to all these misconceptions in life, all sorts of illusions and myths we have to live through, and the anger increases."
I think people are only just now beginning to reconsider how much racism and sexism played a part in your public demonization.
I understand how people felt about it, especially considering the times. It must have been very hard on them that suddenly their hero is standing with a woman. It's hard enough to see him with a woman, but an Oriental woman at that! Of course I was pained by the fact that they were angry at me. At the same time, it was a lesson that we learned together in a way. Now, maybe, when they see an Oriental or somebody from a different race, they might have a different feeling about it. Something good might have come out of it in the sense we all learned from it.
At that time, women were leaving their husbands because they felt they were being overshadowed -- and there you were, living proof. I'm sure John didn't want it to be that way, and yet your work was overshadowed.
But that was a typical woman's life. John was very concerned about it because he was a new breed of man in a way. Well, he wasn't before then -- he was pretty macho -- but he was trying to be politically correct, in now language. At the same time, it was hard for him, for most men. He felt lonely, he didn't feel there was a gang of brothers who were agreeing with him about this stuff. It was a strange time.
I've noticed some younger female artists, like Courtney Love, are reclaiming you as a heroine. Love even wrote a song about you with Hole called "20 Years at the Dakota."
There's something parallel about our lives. I felt it too. I felt there's a similar situation [with Love], a vibration there that we can easily understand each other.
What inspired the leap from avant garde experimentalism to more mainstream, structured pop? Were you wanting to address a larger audience?
In 1967 when I was doing the "Bottoms" film, and John and I still hadn't gotten together, there was that pop atmosphere. I did "Listen the Snow is Falling" -- not in a very pop way, just on a tape. It was a one-off thing. I don't know what I was thinking -- for me it was an experiment. When John and I got together I was not thinking pop so much as rock -- I was interested in that strong, heavy beat -- I equated it with the heartbeat. I thought, the avant-garde music is mainly for the head, you know. Most male avant-garde composers avoided the voice because it was too animalistic; they were into very cool instrumental kinds of things. Cool was in, and by using my voice I was a little uncool in their eyes. Strange, isn't it? It was too physical, the sound of my voice was too human and emotional. And because of that, I kind of rebelled against that avant-garde tendency and I went more animalistic. When I heard the rock beat, I thought, 'Oh, this is what I was looking for!' It was almost like I met what I wanted to meet. And I never looked back.
-- Joy Press
YOKO ONO FLIES HIGH
(from: www.rollingstone.com)
Yoko Ono is everywhere: in dance clubs, in art galleries and even on the spine of an indie rock album.
Her music -- thanks to remixes by the Pet Shop Boys, Danny Tenaglia, Felix Da Housecat, Orange Factory and others -- is turning on the ears, and feet, of a new generation. Ono recently watched a crowd in a New York club dancing to her music, and she requested a mike so she could add some live orgasmic moans to the track's recorded ones -- not something the average seventy-year-old does at 3 a.m.
In the last week, Ono has debuted two more remixes, "Will I" and "Fly," as well as a DVD of rare and unseen footage of late husband John Lennon she compiled. And her artistic life is currently as frenetic as her musical life. One exhibit, "Odyssey of a Cockroach," is on at New York's Deitch Projects; and she recently approved a musical based on Lennon's songs that will be coming to Broadway. Last month, after nearly forty years, Ono recreated "Cut Piece" in Paris. She sat on a chair onstage at the Ranelagh Theater as each of the 200 members of the audience cut off her clothes until she was in her lingerie.
And when the California rock band Beulah wanted the title of their new album to denote love, change and artistry, they came up with Yoko.
When you first did "Cut Piece" thirty-seven years ago, it was considered very cutting edge.
In those days I was expressing my emotional turbulence and anger, and I was communicating just with a small group of people -- mostly artists and intellectuals. And now it's anybody. It's a wider audience. I did it with love for the world and you and me. If you can carry some feeling of love for each other, that's very important.
Isn't love the hardest emotion to draw out of a stranger?
No, I don't think so. I think it's the easiest emotion. Life is so beautiful that it's hard not to love it.
What inspires you?
I really don't know. I get inspired by anything. Newton found an incredible thing from a drop of an apple.
In some lights art is viewed as passive, but you've long worked for peace, a physical job, because you must persuade governments, persuade people and change philosophies.
Well, how do you persuade people? I mean, you can go in front of the White House and just kind of bang the doors and say, "You better do what I'm telling you to do." Or you could be writing something in the newspaper. There are many ways of doing it, and I'm not using just one way. Art is an expression and that is a way to communicate the importance of the idea of world peace.
Beulah singer Miles Kurosky said, "Yoko had to be the title since the record is about love, my growth as an artist, and the changes I've been going through as a human being. I wanted to make a more mature, confident and daring artistic statement. The word 'Yoko' says it all: change, progress and risk."
He's very eloquent. I really blessed Beulah, because they're going back to being real. Beulah are starting to do something on a different level. It's very close to the kind of writing that was done in the Sixties. It's good, and it's coming back.
When "Open Your Box" came out in the U.K. in 1971, it was banned. Now, it's a huge dance hit.
I'm very thankful that that happened within my lifetime. I'm experiencing it with a sense of wonderment.
What do you think the difference is?
The main difference is the usual difference: step by step we're getting wiser, all of us together.
What were you thinking when you heard the first remixes of your music?
When I first heard "Open Your Box" by Orange Factory, I just started crying. It was so beautiful that somebody understood my work so well.
Why do you think the dance genre is so open to your music?
It comes naturally to me. I'm one person who's really mad about dancing. I love it.
Some of your music -- "Open Your Box" and "Yang Yang" for example -- is very sexual and some it is very graphic. Do you think people are more open to that now?
Definitely. It's to celebrate life. Life is sex, and sex is love.
P.J. GACH
(October 29, 2003)
COOPER OWEN'S 4th ANNUAL BEATLES AUCTION
(from: www.cooperowen.com)
Cooper Owen's fourth annual BEATLES auction takes place on Thursday 20 November 2004 at 6.00pm GMT and makes a welcome return to the HARD ROCK CAFE, Old Park Lane, London.
A host of important lots are included, such as a rare invitation to the premiere of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT signed by the band and dedicated to "a chip of the old potato", 'TV Director' Victor Spinetti.
Another very rare piece is an early contract signed by Brian Epstein for the Beatles appearance at the Oasis Club in Manchester in 1962.
Also included is a copy of 'Please Please Me' signed by the band, together with a variety of early autographs - everything from a signed half of a 1963 Royal Performance programme to a wonderful caricature of the band, won in a competition in the 'Peoples Journal' newspaper in 1963 together with an image of Paul signing it.
An amusing collection of lots comes in the form of fantastic pre-preproduction artwork and cels for the US 'Beatles cartoon'.
A Ltd Edition Silver Series Fender Stratocaster guitar given by George Harrison to his friend, comedian Spike Milligan forms an interesting centre-piece to the sale.
The third part of the Alan Robertson DEZO HOFFMANN photographic collection comprises almost half the sale - a selection of stunning black and white studio-stamped prints of the band throughout their career including many rarely seen candid shots.
Other lots of interest include an antique coffer from John Lennon's Weybridge home with a letter of authenticity from his ex-wife Cynthia, a rare boxed Red Jet electric guitar, a Sgt. Peppers promo standee, a signed Bag One erotic lithograph, a corduroy coat owned by John Lennon, an Alan Williams business card together with a whole host of posters, autographs, international merchandising, photographs and much, much more.
Email auctions@cooperowen.com for further information.
NELSON MANDELA AND ALL STAR CONCERT
(from: www.46664.com)
Give 1 Minute of Your Life To Stop AIDS Dial 09060 1 46664 or connect to www.46664.com NOW and Join the Global Petition.
Nelson Mandela and musicians join forces in the fight against AIDS in South Africa (musicians are: Anastacia, Baaba Maal, Beyonce, Bono, Johnny Clegg, The Corrs, Eurythmics, Moloko, Paul Oakenfold featuring Shifty Shell Shock and TC, Ladysmith Black Mombaza, Queen, Zucchero and more).
Concert Event to be broadcast on the internet live on 29th November by Tiscali and on MTV Globally on World AIDS Day and offered rights free at no cost to all TV, radio broadcasters and internet partners.
"A tragedy of unprecedented proportions is unfolding in Africa. Aids today in Africa is claiming more lives than the sum total of all wars, famines and floods and the ravages of such deadly diseases as Malaria."
"We must act now for the sake of the world"
"Aids is no longer a disease it is a human rights issue."
Nelson Mandela - International Aids Conference - Paris 2003... www.46664.com
OFFICIAL PRESS STATEMENT
FROM PAUL AND HEATHER: BEATRICE MILLY MCCARTNEY
(from: paulmccartney.com)
Heather and Paul McCartney are delighted to announce the birth of their baby daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney, who was born in London on 28th October at 8.45pm by Caesarean section. The baby, who arrived three weeks early, weighed in at a healthy 7lbs and both she and Mum are doing well.
Paul and Heather are ecstatic with the news. They said "She is a little beauty and we couldn't be prouder". She is named after Heather's mother Beatrice and Paul's auntie Milly. They added "Our immediate family were told the news right away and are all as overjoyed as we are at the early arrival of our little bundle of joy."
JOHN LENNON THE MUSICAL AIMS FOR BROADWAY
(from: uk.news.yahoo.com)
NEW YORK (Reuters - October 2003) - Imagine a Broadway musical based on songs by John Lennon -- Yoko Ono has, and producers say she has given the go-ahead for a show using her late husband's work.
Tentatively titled "The Lennon Project," the stage musical will explore the turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s with some 30 songs drawn from more than 200 Lennon wrote after the Beatles break-up. The legendary band released their last album, "Let It Be," in 1970 but had already dissolved as a act.
"Over the past two decades, I have been experiencing the feedback from the world to John's life, statements and music," Ono said in a statement.
"I realised what John had meant to the world. He was a catalyst who brought down the hypocrisy and the old world establishments by saying 'Gimme Some Truth.'
"What we present on stage should again give people insight, encouragement, inspiration and fun, so they can go on with their lives with some assurance and hope."
The show, which is planned for the 2004-2005 season, will be produced by Edgar Lansbury and Don Scardino. Scardino will also direct the show with a script he plans to write with Eric Overmyer.
The Lennon show follows several recent Broadway shows based on preexisting songs by a composer. The long-running "Mamma Mia" is based on music by Abba; the Tony-winning, rock-ballet "Movin' Out" is performed to Billy Joel's music; and this season marks the opening of "The Boy from Oz," a musical biography of Australian cabaret singer Peter Allen.
Ono says Lennon's message still resonates in the world today. "His message of love and peace is very, very important, especially now," Ono told Reuters in a recent interview.
"It is really taking off without me pushing too much. And I think it is really important that his words and music are communicated, especially to the younger generation."
ASTRID KIRCHHERR PUBLISHES HER FINAL BOOK OF BEATLES PHOTOS
(from icliverpool.co.uk/)
Astrid Kirchherr was the first photographer to chronicle the history of The Beatles. She befriended them as complete unknowns in 1960 in Hamburg and has remained close for more than 40 years.
Now Kirchherr is publishing her fifth and final book with Genesis Publications.
She is dedicating this book of her favourite images, When We Was Fab, to George Harrison, whom she describes as "a guide in my life, who looked after me...I loved his humour; there was never any stardom with him and I could talk to him about my problems."
Olivia Harrison has written the foreword and sees the volume as indispensable to the dedicated fan. "Imagine how incomplete the pictorial history of The Beatles would be without the images in this book," she says. When We Was Fab is a limited edition of just 750 fully leather bound copies.
There are 41 images and one print of George Harrison never seen before. The photos date mainly from 1960 and 1962 in Hamburg - studio and fairground shots. There are also some behind-the-scenes shots on the set of A Hard Day's Night.
The portraits are tense and gaunt, reflecting the penury and uncertainty dogging The Beatles in Germany. "They trusted me," recalls Kirchherr, "and I had the chance to rip down the walls and show them with fear, sadness and loneliness in their eyes."
Kirchherr was arguably the greatest influence on the Beatles Look. She gave them their early image and stage managed their first photo sessions before they were famous. As George Harrison said: "Astrid was the one who influenced our image more than anybody. It was Astrid who made us look good."
Genesis is the world's leading independent publisher of limited edition craftsman-produced books on rock and pop. Its books on musical icons of the 20th century have covered the Stones, Beatles, Dylan, Bowie and The Who. Its sell-out book on the Stones, Exile, featured extensively in the media in Europe, the States, Japan and Australia. Its recent Memoir by George Martin has received critical acclaim in The New York Times, Australia and Europe.
For further details about When We Was Fab and Genesis Publications, please visit: http://www.genesis-publications.com/
"LENNON LEGEND", A NEW DVD
(from www.dotmusic.com)
Rare and previously unseen footage of John Lennon will be released on a new DVD and CD.
With his widow Yoko Ono as executive producer, 'Lennon Legend' is out on October 27 and is intended as a companion to his greatest hits of the same name.
"This is as definitive a collection as it is possible to be," said Yoko Ono.
"John's life was an amazing one and one that I feel privileged to have been part of. Compiling this DVD has been a very emotional experience: unearthing rare footage, watching it increase in clarity before my eyes, reliving hundreds of memories that were part of our lives and which are now being passed on to a new generation.
"It is a film made with love and hope - my love for my husband and our hope that peace will prevail in the world. Give peace a chance!"
Video recordings of twenty tracks from the former Beatle have been remastered and remixed using the latest technology available at Abbey Road.
The DVDD includes film from Ono's private library, existing videos, specially commissioned new promos and short animations in the style of John Lennon's drawings.
Some of the most treasured items thrown up by this release include an excerpt from John and Yoko's Film #6 from December 1968 and live version of 'Imagine' shot at during his last live show in 1975.
BEATLES REWORK "LET IT BE"
(by Josh Grossberg Sep 18, 2003 from www.eonline.com)
The lads of Liverpool are ready to get back to where they once belonged, at least where it concerns the making of the Let It Be album.
The surviving Beatles plan to release on November 17 a newly revised edition of their classic 1970 opus, which strips out the flowery orchestrations added by legendary producer Phil Spector and recaptures the Fab Four at their most magical and intimate, the Beatles' company, Apple Corps. Records announced today.
"If we had today's technology back then, it would sound like this because this is the noise we made in the studio. It's all exactly as it was in the room. You're right there now" Paul McCartney said in a statement.
The quieter version, dubbed Let It Be...Naked and approved by the late George Harrison before his death in 2001, has long been a pet project of McCartney's, who thought the original recordings deserved to be heard and was never happy with the string arrangements Spector added to "The Long and Winding Road."
McCartney and John Lennon penned most of the tunes in 1969 and originally wanted to call the new collection, Get Back. But the Beatles ended up disbanding in 1970 before finishing the album.
Lennon, who had an affinity for Spector's revolutionary implementation of studio effects and over-dubbing to create his trademark wall of sound--an orchestral wash that helped score hits for the Righteous Brothers, the Ronettes, and many others--invited him to sift through hundreds of hours of tapes and complete what ultimately became Let It Be, which accompanied the film of the same name.
Conceiving the idea for the re-issue over two years ago, McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr hope to present the Moptop's final release as they originally intended--a back-to-basics album showcasing a roots-oriented rock and roll band.
"When I first heard it, it was really uplifting," Starr told Reuters. "It took you back again to the times when we were this band, the Beatle band."
Naked nixes "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae," plus background dialogue, in favor of featuring "Don't Let Me Down," a track that was not on the original album. And another treat for Beatles fans, the de-Spectorized version will also include a special 20-minute bonus disc of rare footage of the musicians in recording and film sessions as well as a CD booklet containing photos and text that was originally published in the Let It Be vinyl booklet.
While the Beatles may be gone, they're more popular than ever these days.
One, their compilation of number-one hits, has already sold over 24 million copies worldwide. Plus, those wanting to see John, Paul, George and Ringo at their apex, be on the lookout for The Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring the Beatles, a two-disc DVD set containing all 20 historic performances of the British band, which hits stores on October 28.
The BBC, meanwhile plans to air a special on September 20 showing lost footage of the era, including clips of Lennon hanging out with wife Yoko Ono and the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger.
ONO'S ART SHOW BARES ALMOST ALL
(from news.bbc.co.uk)
Yoko Ono, widow of murdered Beatle John Lennon, was left on a Paris stage in her underwear when audience members cut off her clothes as part of her art show Cut Piece.
First performed in 1964 as a peace protest, Ono had asked the audience to cut off pieces of her clothing to "send to the one you love".
Her son Sean was the first to get on stage, cutting a hole into the sleeve of his mother's black tunic.
"It was nerve-wracking," he told journalists after the performance.
"She is really brave to do this again. It was very moving and very intense."
Ono admitted afterwards to being nervous during the performance, especially after one woman cut through her bra strap.
"I was a little bit scared," she told Reuters news agency.
"But I wasn't that scared because I tried to do it with love. And I think there is a lot of love out there."
Peace advertisements
Ono and Lennon became famous in the 1960s and 1970s for their offbeat protests, including the Bed-In For Peace against the Vietnam War.
"When I first performed this work, in 1964, I did it with some anger and turbulence in my heart," she said before the show.
"This time, I do it with love for you, for me and for the world."
The show is one of a number of pro-peace demonstrations the Japanese artist has held.
Last year she rented a billboard in London's Piccadilly Circus, which read: "Imagine all the people living life in peace," a line from Lennon's famous song Imagine.
She also took out full-page advertisements in papers around the world on the eve of the war in Iraq earlier this year.
The adverts said: "Imagine Peace...Spring 2003."
MY LIFE JUST GETS BETTER
All her life Yoko Ono has suffered sexism and racism. Now, as she celebrates her 70th birthday, she is determined not to suffer from ageism.
"I suffered all my life from sexism, like most women do, and racism, and I thought am I going to add ageism to this?" says the widow of John Lennon in her only birthday interview...
THE RETURN OF CAT STEVENS
"Peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on peace train
Peace Train on its way
Oh I've been happy lately,
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be"...
www.yusufislam.org.uk/audio/peacetrain.shtml.
This is Peace Train, the song against the war by Cat Stevens
YOKO ONO LAUNCHES PEACE PRIZE
Yoko Ono has inaugurated her own peace award by giving $50,000 (£31,900) prize money to Israeli and Palestinian artists.
Ono bestowed the first Lennon Ono Grant for Peace to Israeli Zvi Goldstein and Palestinian Khalil Rabah on Wednesday at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, for their efforts to remain "creative and inspirational" amid the tensions of war.
The award was made on the day that would have been Lennon's 62nd birthday.
At the awards ceremony, Ono said: "Imagine all the people living life in peace," echoing the words to Lenon's peace anthem Imagine.
She added that future grants would be given only to artists living "in regions of conflict".
Goldstein is an award-winning Israeli artist who lives in Jerusalem. He accepted the award "in memory of all those who died in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".
Rabah lives and works in Ramallah and organised the first institution for contemporary art in the West Bank. He was also a pioneer in exhibiting his work alongside that of Israeli artists.
"I think we need to continue this spirit of the possibility of peace," Rabah said.
The ceremony was attended by around 300 people, made up of artists and diplomats, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Mr Annan said: "Individuals can make a difference; individuals can play a role, and she's (Ono) out there making a difference and I think it's great."
"IT'S TIME TO HUG EACH OTHER
Yoko Ono has bought the childhood home of her late husband John Lennon, and donated the property to the National Trust.
Ono is thought to have paid over £150,000 for the Menlove Avenue house where Lennon once lived with his Aunt Mimi. Lennon wrote there the early Beatles hit Please Please Me. His teenage band, The Quarrymen, and then The Beatles, rehearsed there.
"I think Menlove Avenue has an important place in Beatles history, and it saddened me to think that it might be lost. The fact that this is happening in the same week that Liverpool airport is officially opened as Liverpool John Lennon airport would have made my husband very happy. " Ono said.
The airport's new logo is a sketch of Lennon's face, and its slogan is "Above us only sky", taken from his classic hit Imagine.
A seven-foot bronze statue of John Lennon has been unveiled that bears his name.
Ono told the BBC: "Communication and exchanging will lead to understanding and understanding will create love and peace... And the world needs peace"It is a time for all people of all religions to hug each other and if you are not religious then hug a tree or something".
The producers Kate Hyman, Jon Sidel from V2 Records and director Jessie Nelson who has co-written the story chose Beatles' songs for the soundtrack of their film "I Am Sam" (Listen to the music :30 clips from the I Am Sam Original Soundtrack, See the videos from soundtrack artists). They assembled a roster of artists that includes Aimee Mann and Michael Penn collaborating on "Two of Us," Ben Harper performing "Strawberry Fields Forever," and Sarah McLachlan performing "Blackbird." Additional artists on the soundtrack include The Black Crowes, The Wallflowers, Ben Folds, Rufus Wainright and Sheryl Crow, among others.
Album Tracklisting
"Two of Us": Aimee Mann and Michael Penn
"Blackbird": Sarah McLachlan
"Across the Universe": Rufus Wainwright
"I'm Looking Through You": The Wallflowers
"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away": Eddie Vedder
"Strawberry Fields Forever": Ben Harper
"Mother Nature's Son": Sheryl Crow
"Golden Slumbers": Ben Folds
"I'm Only Sleeping": The Vines
"Don't Let Me Down": The Stereophonics
"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds": The Black Crowes
"Julia": Chocolate Genius
"We Can Work It Out": Heather Nova
"Help!": Howie Day
"Nowhere Man": Paul Westerberg
"Revolution": Grandaddy
"Let It Be": Nick Cave
AFTER HIS US TOUR PAUL McCARTNEY WILL MARRY...
"I write music and it's a luxury to play, it always has been" said Sir Paul. "There's a hard work element but it's mainly fun."
"I don't feel like finishing or stopping. People in boring jobs live for that day but I have quite a bit of time off. It's like a hobby for me but it pays well.It's what I do and it's who I am."
His official website:
http://www.paulmccartney.com
Paul will marry his fiancee Heather Mills in New York in June, on June 6 2002 at his Long Island mansion, claims a UK tabloid.
Ringo Starr, Neal Aspinall and Macca's children will be amongst the guests for the wedding.
" YOU COULDN'T FOLLOW THE BEATLES..."
June 2001 - TV Film & Double CD June 2001
PAUL McCARTNEY'S Wings are to fly again. The TV story of the band and a double CD featuring 40 Wings songs have been released worldwide. The Beatles Anthology-style project has been launched under the banner
Wingspan. The two-hour TV film reveals the inside story of Wings.
Featuring never-before-seen home movie footage of Paul and Linda and their family, together with previously-private band archive and rare concert film, Wingspan will tell how Paul McCartney restarted his career from scratch -
with him, Linda, their children, pet dogs and the band all driving around Britain in a van asking for work.
Instead of arriving at stadium concerts in police-escorted limousines, Wings drove themselves to small halls unannounced and uninvited, and were paid for their impromptu shows in 50p pieces. Besides following Paul and Linda's private family life from 1970-1980, Wingspan reveals how - despite the headaches and handicaps of Beatles law suits, police pot busts and
BBC airplay band - Wings soared to success with hit singles and No.1 albums.
Said Paul : "I always thought that you couldn't follow The Beatles; Wingspan is the story and the soundtrack of how we set out to do it".
Copyright © 2000 Thou Art All Rights Reserved
|
