Paul: I Was the Political Beatle

CDs showcase Fab Four as they were meant to be heard

(NEWSER) - The Beatles just got better: every one of their original albums and a batch of collected singles has been remastered, boosting the quality to the level “the Beatles themselves would have heard and intended,” writes Matt Hurwitz in the Washington Post. The stereo CDs remind us that the Beatles were a “rock band”: these recordings pack a punch not heard on the older discs. More»

New interview tapes reveal Lennon as engineer of Beatles' break up

(NEWSER) - Long-forgotten interviews with the Beatles emerged today when rock journalist Ray Connelly dug out reels of tape he'd stored away in a forgotten suitcase. On the 40th anniversary of the band's descent into dissolution, Connelly reveals new information upending some impressions that Paul McCartney was responsible for the split. More»

'Paul is dead' rumor refused to die, Beatle says

(NEWSER) - The infamous rumor that Paul McCartney died in 1966—and was replaced by a man who looked and sounded like the original—had Beatles’ fans regularly checking the musician’s appearance to see if he was the genuine article, McCartney tells Mojo magazine, as noted by the Telegraph. “I could see people sort of looking at me more closely,” McCartney said. “'Were his ears always like that?” More»

Bob Dylan's Christmas album is just the latest in a long line

(NEWSER) - Bob Dylan’s decision to record a Christmas album is certainly ill-advised—“fans may have stuck by him throughout the musically self-destructive late '60s, the God-bothering late '70s, and the Grateful Dead-collaborating-Madonna-imitating mid '80s, but surely even Bob's fans have a limit,” writes John Matthew Hall for the Independent. But Dylan’s not alone; Hall offers up the worst disasters in rock and roll careers, from John Lennon to Michael Jackson: More»

(NEWSER) - The Beatles are getting a long-awaited makeover. The group's entire music collection, including all 12 studio albums released in stereo, is being digitally remastered for release in September, the UK Times reports. It will be the first time the first four Beatles albums will be available in their entirety on CD, notes CNN. The release will coincide with the issue of a Rock Band video game, in which fans will get to play along. More»