Beatles Rewind Podcast

Among the Beatles’ vast catalog of revolutionary songs, “Let It Be” stands apart as their most overtly spiritual moment—a hymn-like meditation that has comforted millions of listeners for over half a century. But the story behind the song reveals something more intimate than a religious anthem. It’s a son’s conversation with his deceased mother, transformed into a universal message of solace durin...

When you opened the gatefold sleeve of “The Beatles” (universally known as the White Album) in November 1968, you found something unprecedented tucked inside: four large, glossy color photographs, one of each Beatle, shot individually. These weren’t group shots. There was no unity, no togetherness, no “Fab Four” mythology. Just John, Paul, George, and Ringo—separate, stark, and strikingly casual....

The irony is almost too perfect: The Beatles, arguably the most innovative and groundbreaking songwriters in rock history, were sued for plagiarism. The band that revolutionized popular music, that created entirely new approaches to recording, arrangement, and composition, stood accused of stealing from others. Yet this apparent contradiction reveals something fundamental about artistic creation i...

John Lennon and Elton John developed a warm friendship in the early 1970s that produced one of rock’s most memorable collaborations and live performances. 🎹 Their connection began when Elton was already a rising superstar and Lennon was navigating his solo career after the Beatles’ breakup. Elton admired Lennon enormously, both for his fearless songwriting and for the emotional honesty that ran t...

In the history of rock and roll, few moments are as seismic as The Beatles’ U.S. arrival in 1964. They were the mop-topped, leather-booted cavalry, bringing raucous energy, driving rhythms, and a sheer refusal to be quiet. Yet, nestled oddly within the track listing of Meet The Beatles!—between the joyous anarchy of “I Wanna Be Your Man” and the raw energy of “Hold Me Tight”—sits a piece of musica...

The Beatles were so commercially dominant during their heyday that the very idea of a cover version outselling their original seems almost impossible. Their singles routinely topped charts worldwide, and many album tracks became instant classics. Yet in the annals of rock history, there are a handful of rare instances where other artists took Beatles songs and achieved chart success that matched o...

Among the Beatles’ vast catalog of revolutionary songs, “Let It Be” stands apart as their most overtly spiritual moment—a hymn-like meditation that has comforted millions of listeners for over half a century. But the story behind the song reveals something more intimate than a religious anthem. It’s a son’s conversation with his deceased mother, transformed into a universal message of solace durin...

The Beatles’ songwriting partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney was remarkably prolific, even by the standards of the hit-driven 1960s. Between 1963 and 1966 alone, they released six UK albums, multiple non-album singles, and still had songs left over. This wasn’t just quantity—their hit rate was extraordinary. Nearly everything they touched turned to gold, which meant they had more qu...

The Impossible Résumé The numbers are staggering, almost absurd. 📊 Paul McCartney has written or co-written a record 32 songs that have topped the Billboard Hot 100—more than any songwriter in history. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of 100 million records. With 129 of the songs he has written or co-written charting in the UK, McCartney lays claim to...

The Comparison Game Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Drummers placed Ringo Starr at number 14. John Bonham topped the list at number 1. Keith Moon came in at number 2. On paper, that ranking makes sense. Bonham was a madman, a force of nature—thunderous, improvisational, playing like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. Dave Grohl spent years in his bedroom trying to emulate Bonham’s s...

What are George Harrison’s most popular songs? Here’s the answer: ranked by both record sales and streaming, here are the loudest monsters by the Quiet Beatle. (If you’d like to know more about the methodology used for these rankings, there’s an explanation at the bottom of this essay.) 1. ☀️🎸 “Here Comes the Sun” (1969, Abbey Road) The undisputed champion of Harrison’s catalog—and indeed, the en...

The Maysles Brothers’ documentary capturing The Beatles’ first visit to the United States in February 1964 holds exceptional historical significance, primarily because it offers a rare, intimate, and authentic record of the band at the very peak of their ascent and the nascent Beatlemania phenomenon in America. The Beatles’ First US Visit: How the Maysles Brothers Captured Lightning One of the gre...

🎸 “Please Please Me”: The Song That Changed Everything for The Beatles 🌟 From Roy Orbison Blues to Beatlemania In June 1962, John Lennon sat in his bedroom at his Aunt Mimi’s house on Menlove Avenue in Liverpool and wrote a song. 🏠 “I remember the day I wrote it,” Lennon recalled. “I heard Roy Orbison doing ‘Only the Lonely’, or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing...

In March 1966, John Lennon sat in his Weybridge living room talking to Maureen Cleave, a journalist from the London Evening Standard whom he’d known for years. The conversation ranged widely—books, religion, his restlessness, his reading habits. Lennon had been devouring works on Christianity, and he offered an observation that was, in context, almost melancholic: “Christianity will go. It will va...

The opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night” is perhaps the most analyzed, debated, and celebrated single sound in rock history. That explosive, jangling burst that launches the 1964 film and album has captivated musicians, scholars, and fans for six decades—and remarkably, there’s still no absolute consensus on exactly how it was created. The Mystery Takes Shape What makes this chord so enigmatic is...

🔊 The Beatles’ Paradox: The Loudest Band That Couldn’t Be Heard When we think of “loud” rock bands, images of Marshall stacks, feedback-drenched guitar solos, and ear-splitting decibel levels usually come to mind. But The Beatles occupied a strange and unprecedented space in the history of musical volume—they were simultaneously the loudest phenomenon rock and roll had ever seen and, paradoxicall...

At first glance, The Beatles and The Cranberries seem to occupy entirely separate musical universes—separated by thirty years, different genres, and distinct cultural moments. Yet a closer examination reveals surprising parallels that illuminate how rock music evolves while retaining certain foundational powers: the ability to define national identity, to comment on social turmoil, and to reach au...

Last week, I went to a concert by a Beatles tribute band. Great fun—there they were on stage—four men in matching suits, holding the same instruments as the real Mop-tops, (“Paul” was even playing a Hofner bass, left-handed, just like McCartney himself), singing those immortal songs. “I Saw Her Standing There.” “A Hard Day’s Night.” “Hey, Jude.” The tribute band nailed every harmony, every guitar...

In December 1961, long before they became famous outside Liverpool, The Beatles added “Please Mr. Postman” to their live repertoire, making it their third Tamla song after the Miracles’ “Who’s Lovin’ You” and Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want).” The song became a staple at their live concerts at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where Billy Hatton of the Four Jays recalled seeing one of the Beatl...

The Beatles stopped touring in 1966. They broke up in 1970. John Lennon was murdered in 1980, and George Harrison died in 2001. Yet on any given weekend in 2025, you can watch the Beatles perform live—not Paul and Ringo’s nostalgic victory laps, but full four-piece re-creations of the Fab Four in their prime, complete with mop-top wigs, Höfner basses, and those suits. The tribute band phenomenon h...

Ringo Starr occupies a peculiar place in rock history. As the drummer for the Beatles—arguably the most influential band of all time—he should be universally celebrated as one of the greats. Yet decades of jokes, misattributed quotes, and damning anecdotes have created a persistent narrative that Ringo was merely an adequate drummer, a lucky guy who happened to be in the right place at the right t...

When Ringo Starr stepped up to the microphone to sing “Boys” on Please Please Me in 1963, he belted out lyrics celebrating boys with an enthusiasm that might seem puzzling to modern listeners. “I’m talking about boys, yeah yeah, boys!” he sang, without a hint of irony or any attempt to change the pronouns. For a song that was clearly written from a female perspective, this could seem like an odd c...

John’s First Strings: The Banjo Before the Guitar 🪕 Before John Lennon became one of rock’s most famous rhythm guitarists, before he wrote “A Hard Day’s Night” or “Help!” or “Strawberry Fields Forever,” he learned to play banjo. His teacher was his mother, Julia. 👩‍👦 Julia Lennon was musical, fun-loving, and unconventional—everything John’s aunt Mimi (who raised him) was not. When John showed i...

Live! at the Star-Club 🎸🍺 How a bootleg recording from a German nightclub captured the Beatles at their most unpolished—and why it took 15 years to find someone “greedy and shameless enough” to release it 🎤💀 A Drunken Recording of Drunks 🍻 On their final nights in Hamburg in late December 1962, The Beatles were recorded performing at the Star-Club—a gritty German venue where they’d been honin...

How a last-minute recording session with a weary, hoarse John Lennon created an iconic performance that defined raw rock and roll energy—and launched a thousand parade scenes 😷🎸 When The Beatles gathered at EMI Studios on February 11, 1963, for the marathon session that would produce their debut album Please Please Me, they saved one particular song for last. John Lennon had been nursing a cold...