Beatles’ rock band gets a release date.

Fire up your XBOX 360’s and get ready to rock the wiimote Rickenbakcers and Casios my friends.  The Beatles are coming soon to a video game console near you.  It looks like I may need to finally upgrade my video game system because of this.  I am still running an Nintendo 64 and an XBOX. 

The time has come to upgrade and this may be the thing that pushes me to do it.  9.9.09 catchy.  John’s lucky numbers just seem to pop up everywhere even after he’s gone.

Here’s what we’ve read.

The music of the Beatles will arrive as a playable video game for the first time on September 9, 2009 when The Beatles: Rock Band hits stores in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The game, which will be available for Xbox, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii on the same day, “takes players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band’s legendary career,” according to a press release issued by the title’s makers, Apple Corps, Harmonix and MTV Games. While there’s no playlist or word about venues and avatars, there will be a limited number of instruments issued that are modeled after guitars, basses and drums John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr used (regular Rock Band peripherals will be compatible, too).

Three offerings will be released on September 9th: The Beatles: Rock Band software; standalone guitars; and a limited edition premium bundle that will presumably include the game and some configuration of instruments. And there’s an incentive to pre-order now: the game’s makers say exclusive content will be accessible to those who reserve the game in advance through major retailers over the next few months. The game’s official Website is active and promises updates.

VIDEO: Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl rock the Grammy awards.

In case you missed it, Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl ROCKED the Grammy Awards last night.  This wasn’t Paul and Dave’s first time together performing in recent memory.

“I Saw Her Standing There” (Feb 2009)

Here’s Paul and Dave Grohl live together at Anfield from last year in case you missed it.

“Band on the Run” (June 2008)

No Paul did not win a grammy award for His Amoeba EP, but it was an outstanding star-studded night.  Checkout the complete list of winners here. As the article indicates, it was a mini-British invasion of sorts with several Brits snapping up many many awards.

Dhani Harrison set to hit Coachella.

Not only will Paul McCartney be playing Coachella, but George Harrison’s son Dhani will be playing Coachella with his band thenewno2.

Get more info about thenewno2 at Dhani Harrison’s offcial website, and also thenewno2’s Myspace page.

Tickets for Coachella are on sale now and can be purchased through the festival’s website or Ticketmaster.

McCartney to play at Coachella

Paul is no stranger to performing at festivals, as we all have seen at the Glastonbury festival a few years back, but this announcement comes as a bit of a surprise.  The Coachella Festival is the hipster of all hipsters.  We have to admit that it’s a little strange to hear that a Beatle is playing at this cutting edge festival.  It’s a little weird to be hearing  Portishead or Sigur Ros and even Morrisey in the same breath.  There are hipster indie bands, and then there is the thought of a Beatle.

I guess it’s most strange knowing that Paul never, at least late in his career, aged as a “cool” guy.  He always held his artistic credibility, but did many things that are quite cringe-worthy.  That cool factor kind of dropped a bit.  In recent times, though Paul’s cool temperature is red hot.  He’s got several artistic and adventurous solo albums, and has also produced a remix album, and avant-garde album under a different moniker that would make the coolest hipster nod in approval.  Maybe a Fireman tune or two will make a Coachella appearance as well, it’s nothing too much just out of sight.

Here’s what we’ve read.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival got famous by presenting the sounds of today and tomorrow. But this year California’s most celebrated live-music event is gambling on Paul McCartney and the music of “Yesterday.”

Booking the former Beatle, who is listed in the record books as the most successful musician in pop history, would be the safest choice imaginable for most music festivals. But the internationally respected Coachella festival, which is set for April 17-19, has been pulling in crowds of more than 140,000 fans by taking an edgier path with alt-rock heroes you would hear on a college town’s pirate radio station.

Presented with a chance to tap into music history and veteran star power, the promoters have signed the 66-year-old icon, who personifies the mature pop mainstream. The move could help the festival compete amid a grim economy and a host of imitators that have sprung up across the country; the news of McCartney’s presence — for better or worse — instantly will make Coachella a hot topic with music fans nationwide who have been anxiously awaiting the list of this year’s headliners.

What remains to be seen is whether the choice will cost the festival credibility with its core clientele: young fans who are more likely to listen to the White Stripes than the “White Album” and who are far more familiar with Rage Against the Machine than “Band on the Run.”

Paul on The View: He keeps two personnas + VIDEO.

Could you imagine spending your entire adult life being one of the most famous people on the planet?  Truthfully, as much as I would wish and dream for it, it must be total hell.  I imagine you have to be a pretty guarded individual.  You have to constantly worry about the things you say, and the things you do in the court of public opinion.

I really don’t find what Paul says as too revealing.  It’s his way of coping.  I just find it interesting that he twists it around to focus on The Fireman.  Yes, we know that Paul’s creative muses have many faces, but it’s a bit of it as a stretch to say it’s another personna.  Yes, The Fireman-leanings of Paul McCartney are different, but it’s still a McCartney record afterall.  Just a thought.

Paul on The View (Part I)

Paul on The View (Part II)

Here’s what we’ve read.

Paul McCartney keeps fame from driving him crazy by maintaining two versions of himself.

McCartney tells ABC’s “The View” he separates the real Paul from the famous Paul. He says Famous Paul does the shows and Real Paul goes home and watches TV.

McCartney releases “Amoeba Secret Show” on CD.

It looks like Paul McCartney will have a new EP coming out in a week or two.  Yes sir, the Paul McCartney vinyl-only EP from Paul’s secret Amoeba gig last year is finally coming out on CD.

The CD tracks will be the same as the vinyl EP — “Only Mama Knows,” “C Moon,” “That Was Me” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” The bonus tracks from the show used on the “Ever Present Past” CD and vinyl singles will not be on the CD, Henderson said. The artwork will also be the same as the EP, he told us. Two of the tracks are nominated for Grammys — “That Was Me” for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and “I Saw Her Standing There” for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. The Grammy Awards will take place Feb. 8.

Paul McCartney’s “Amoeba Secret,” the vinyl EP recording of his live show at Los Angeles’ Amoeba Records on June 27, 2007, that’s nominated for two Grammy Awards, is quietly coming out on CD Jan. 27, according to a listing at Amazon.com and other online retailers. That’s just in time for the Grammy Awards show Feb. 8, likely the only reason this is coming to CD at all.

The Grammy nominees from the disc are “That Was Me” for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and “I Saw Her Standing There” for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. Those two tracks comprise half of what was on the original vinyl EP release — “Only Mama Knows” and “C Moon” were also on it.

One listing we saw said the CD will contain just the four tracks of the vinyl, though two other tracks from the show, “House of Wax” and “Dance Tonight,” were added to the vinyl and CD single releases, respectively, of “Ever Present Past” from the album “Memory Almost Full.” Here’s an idea: Why not release the whole show?

Several online sources explicitly rumored that the EP would never come out on CD or digitally. I guess that truly was only a rumor.

• Check out the amazon.com listing for the CD.  It looks like you can make a pre-order at the site.

Another year and no Beatles under the Christmas tree.

We all hope that Santa Claus brought you several Beatle goodies under the Christmas tree this year, and you all were able to ring in the New Year with a loved one.  The end of this year was a bit odd.  As of late, Beatle fans have had a few items to put on their Christmas wish-list.  This year was a bit unique.  We were treated to a new, and stellar, McCartney album, a Beatles monopoly game, a White Album puzzle, and the All Together Now DVD.  But really, there was no truly HUGE gift worthy item under the tree that really got us going.

There wasn’t a new album that was released as a Christmas item, there really was no big item officially from the Fabs to make us reorganize our Christmas lists. We do hope that Santa was good to you this year, and that you had a wonderful New Year, and that 2009 is a truly good one for you and yours.  We have a lot to look forward to as Beatle fans as we face a new year.  We still have the possibility of  the remastered back catalog being released and you all know how much that gets us speculating and drooling.

• Let us know all of those goodies that Santa left under your tree. We’d love to hear in the comments below.

Here’s what we’ve read.

If you still believe in Santa Claus, you might also have expected to wake up on Christmas morning and find an iPod stocked with the long-promised reissues of all the Beatles albums. But if you know the shocking truth about Santa, you probably know that the vaunted Beatles reissues don’t exist either, outside the vaults of EMI, the group’s record label, and Apple, the company the band set up in 1967 to oversee its interests.

Other long-anticipated Apple projects, such as DVD versions of the Beatles’ Shea Stadium concert and the Let It Be film, also failed to turn up for the holidays. If you put any faith in Paul McCartney’s passing mention, in November, that the 1967 avant-garde track “Carnival of Light” might be released, don’t hold your breath: This track has been dangled before (about 10 years ago, when McCartney used it as the soundtrack of an unreleased “photofilm,” made from photographs of the Beatles taken by his first wife, Linda).

Indeed, whenever McCartney releases a new album (as he did the week “Carnival of Light” was mentioned), reports of “long-lost” Beatles tracks that “might be released” suddenly surface, but the recordings themselves do not.

Even the most believable of reports, floated by EMI insiders, proved fruitless last year. During the summer EMI was said to be preparing a deluxe remastered edition of the The Beatles (popularly known as The White Album) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release. The anniversary came and went, with no sign of the reissue.

Sir Paul McCartney: sort out Beatles iTunes deal

The advent of a new year is always a time to reflect on the year(s) past, but it’s also a time to look forward as well.  As Beatle fans we have a lot to look forward to as we wait hopefully for the remastered Beatle catalog.  Fans have specculated for years.  Fans have made their own deluxe compilations, often rivaling the officially released products (ahem-Purple Chick collective).  Rumors about the fabled release of the Beatles back catalog have been around for decades now.

The time is now to release them.  Put them out on iTunes, put them out on CD, heck put them out on Blue Ray I don’t care.  Just put them out.  As the world continues to turn, The Beatles are missing the boat.  At this point the boat has come back and sailed off twice over.

With such a good set of recent releases from Paul and Ringo this past year the fire is hot.  Just put those puppies out.  I have a feeling that 2009 will bring fans a treasure of remastered material.  We’ll have to stay tuned.

Ahh the joys of being a Beatle fan.  I guess part of the pleasure is in the waiting. Happy New Year folks!

Here’s what we’ve read.

SIR Paul McCartney has called for an end to the deadlock stopping Beatles fans being able to download their back catalogue.

The Fab Four’s work is not available online due to legal wrangling between two companies – Apple Inc and Apple Corps.

The former is the firm behind iTunes and the iPod, while the latter was set up by Sir Paul with the rest of The Beatles in 1968 to look after their affairs and recordings.

He said: “I hope it happens.

“It is out of our hands, really. It is a business thing and there is some gridlock somewhere.

“It is the usual thing – when it is a Beatles deal, it is a big deal. It is not like we are just some new act.

Imagine: Lennon in TV ad 28 years after his death + VIDEO.

It’s all a little outrageous don’t you think?  I mean I know that they have revived Elvis, Roy Orbison,  and Frank Sinatra, but I don’t they’ve ever done aything truly like this.  I have never seen a dead celebrity used to promote a movement. Personally, I think this ad is in truly poor taste.

Somehow, I just feel uncomfortable about all of this.  I guess if Yoko gives her blessing, then it’s OK.  Somehow I just don’t think I can justify it that’s all.  The more times I watch it, the sicker to my stomach I get actually.

Plus, you’d think they’d find a guy to do a better voice imitation. 

• What are your thoughts on this ad?  See it below. 

Here’s what we’ve read.

Imagine, John Lennon makes a television commercial for charity — 28 years after his death.

Through the use of digital technology, the former Beatle urges people across the United States to support a campaign by “One Laptop per Child” to deliver tough, solar-powered XO laptop computers to the world’s poorest children.

Inebriated Lennon tape grab 30k at auction with AUDIO.

No this may not have been John Lennon’s finest hour, but it certainly is a fun listen.  If you haven’t heard any of the bootleg or outtakes from John’s fabled “lost weekend” then you me dear friends are in for a fun inebriated ride.  I personally find the drunken ramblings of an ex-Beatle playing the moldy oldies quite hillarious.  You have to give John credit for trying to get through these.  Ahh to have been a fly on the wall.  The “lost weekend” outtakes are some of my favorites out there.

Plus, it’s really funny to hear John sing about nipples.  Enjoy!  The tape has been leaked onto youtube in both stereo and mono.  To those of you who are fans of the Lost Lennon radio tapes show this tape should sound a little familiar.

John Lennon – Just Because (mono)

Here’s what we’ve read.

Maybe it wasn’t John Lennon’s best musical effort, but a tape of an apparently inebriated Lennon warbling a cover of Lloyd Price’s “Just Because” brought a sobering $30,000 at auction Sunday in Los Angeles.

John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, seen here in 1969 at a Paris Flea Market.