Paul, Oprah and 3 others were honored earlier this month at the 33rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors. The award is for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts. The program aired (Tuesday) night (Dec. 28th) at 9:00PM EST on CBS. President and Mr. Obama hosted the event. Paul did some performing including a Hey Jude finale. Congratulations, Paul!!
For all of you who haven’t given a Beatles gift to your friends, it is too late for a physical gift to arrive tomorrow.But, we now have Web Gift Certificates in 5 denominations, and you can have them approved and returned to you within hours of when you order them. This is Brand New to our site, and we noticed some of you have already found them and ordered them as well.
Have a Safe and Wonderful Christmas Time.
We wish all of you a very Happy Holiday Season and
Peace and Love in the New Year!
Mark, Carol, Michelle & Jessica Lapidos
Beatles Year in Review!
I guess the biggest news in the Beatles world was the availability of The Beatles catalog on iTunes on November 16th. All of their albums make the Top 40 downloads and nearly 40 of the top 200 songs downloaded were Beatles. For a couple of weeks, Here Comes The Sun was ahead of all other Beatles songs. Then Let It Be took over the Top Beatles song.
Ringo released his first self produced album in January, 2010, called Y Not! It included Walk With You, with Paul sharing the vocals.
In a rare allignment of the stars, both Paul & Ringo toured this summer and actually had a couple of dates overlapping. The indisputable musical highlight had to be Ringo’s 70th birthday concert at Radio City Music Hall. Paul surprised Ringo for a finale AFTER the finale with, of course, Birthday. Ringo came leaping on stage on to his drum kit to join in. We have NEVER seen an audience so go wild in our lives. It was a truly magical moment. You could actually FEEL the excitement!
Click here to see Paul and Ringo -Birthday Video
Yoko celebrated her birthday in February with a concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Sean was the musical director and featured a Plastic Ono Band reunion with Eric Clapton, Jim Keltner and Klaus Voormann. Paul Simon and Bette Midler also performed.
There were many 70th birthday celebrations honoring John in October. First, Yoko, and Producer Jack Douglas put out Double Fantasy Stripped Down. It really was a surprise and fascinating release, where John’s voice was up front and personal. Yoko also released a box set of John’s 8 albums, remastered, and a hits collection on CD and DVD.
Yoko attended the NY premiere of Nowhere Boy and the audience loved it. It is ashame the movie didn’t go into wider release, but it is coming out on DVD in the next few months. Our own Martin Lewis set up the premiere screening with free tickets for many of you.
In honor of the 40th Anniversary of the release of George’s All Things Must Pass, Capitol released a limited edition Vinyl version, which became one of our bestsellers of the season. Vinyl is still alive! This is one of the greatest album in rock history and everyone should own a copy, whether it is on vinyl or CD.
Paul had a few major honors in Washington, DC this year. In June, he was given the prestigious Gershwin Award at the White House, where he performed. Our Chicago MC Terri Hemmert and friend, journalist Larry Kane were in attendance. On December 5, he was awards the Kennedy Center Honors. This began an 8 day period where it seemed Paul was EVERYWHERE! On the 9th, he performed Scrambled Eggs with Jimmy Fallon on Jimmy’s show and it became an instant facebook sensation!
Two nights later he performed in unprecedented FOUR SONGS on Saturday Night Live and appeared in a few skits as well. Then lat Monday, he played New York’s famous Apollo Theatre for the first time. It was a free concert, by invitation only, hosted by Sirius/XM in honor of their 20 millionth subscriber. It was a night to remember. There is a Band on the Run Paul McCartney Radio station on Sirius?XM going on all month and doesn’t end until Sunday.
Great news for our customers. We have just about completely caught up with all orders. Only a small handful did not ship today or earlier. Every other one is on their way to our customers. Most will not have to incur any additional shipping charges to get to you. All orders West of the Mississippi will need to be sent by UPS Blue Label, which is quite a bit more costly. We can still get them to you, but be prepared for the extra charges. But not if you order tonight or before 2 PM tomorrow! So what are you waiting for.
Now THIS is what makes for a Wonderful Christmastime!
Having reached the 20 million subscriber plateau, SIRIUS/XM satellite radio celebrated in grand fashion: exclusive concert event for its listenership, headlined by Sir Paul McCartney at New York’s legendary Apollo Theater. Tickets were awarded to listeners by drawing, but a goodly number of seats were obviously reserved for SIRIUS/XM personnel and dozens of VIP’s. Some of the guests included Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Little Steven, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Alec Baldwin, Dennis Leary, Photographer Bob Gruen, Howard Stern, Duran Duran, John McEnroe, Patty Smyth, Jerry Seinfeld, Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Cousin Brucie & Rob Thomas. In every way, SIRIUS/XM rolled out the red carpet for the event, giving complimentary commemorative t-shirts and lanyards to all attendees, as well as providing a pre-show open bar (beer, wine and soda) and complimentary all-vegetarian hors d’oeuvres (spring rolls, potato knishes, etc, but no tofu wings to report).
At 7:45, SIRIUS/XM’s CEO Mel Karmazin took to the on stage podium to welcome everyone. The concert began at 8:15 and ran exactly two hours, so it was about two-thirds of a “full” McCartney show as done on the recent “Up and Coming” tour. And while the set list drew heavily from the tour repertoire, there were a few surprises thrown in. We thought the set list was a super one and had a most amazing evening! Here it is:
Magical Mystery Tour
Jet
Drive My Car
All My Loving
One After 909 – a McCartney concert stage repertoire rarity (only previous post-Beatles performance was in 1995, as a duet with Elvis Costello)
Let Me Roll It / Foxy Lady (reprise)
The Long & Winding Road
Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five
Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul hadn’t done this favorite in a long time. Perhaps not coincidentally, he flubbed the piano intro. Semi-apologetically, he started over.
Blackbird
I’m Looking Through You – one of the rotating acoustic numbers done on this year’s “Up and Coming” tour
And I Love Her
Petrushka – an improvised Russian-style folk song performed on mandolin
Dance Tonight
Eleanor Rigby – This one sounded the best of the evening. Perhaps it was because Geoff Emerick, the Beatles original engineer on Revolver was on the board for the night.
Paul told of his affection for many of the acts that had graced the Apollo stage, and the band launched into a RED HOT version of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Hitch Hike”. The performance was enhanced by a team of long-haired, sparkling mini-skirted dancers. What a treat until the PA system got knocked out about midway through the take. After a few short minutes and tweaks, the system was restored, and Paul and band started over.
Band On The Run
Obladi-Oblada
Back In The USSR
A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance
Let It Be
Hey Jude
For the first encore, Paul did the rarely performed (but quite appropriate) “Wonderful Christmastime”. An absolutely delightful performance, with the heavy-handed studio effects toned way down, making for a more straight-forward “rock band” delivery, embellished by the 20-strong Academy of Harlem Choir. Truly memorable.
The first encore was rounded out with a ripping version of “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Get Back”.
The second encore boasted “Yesterday” and an impromptu chorus of the “alternate” title, “Scrambled Eggs” (similar to the parody as performed with Jimmy Fallon on his late night show a week earlier). The set ended with the “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End” medley.
As the house lights came up, the theater was showered with Christmas colored confetti. It was our first ever concert at the Apollo and it was an unforgettable evening.
The show was broadcast live on several of SIRIUS/XM’s channels, included in the month-long dedicated “Band On The Run” all-Macca channel. Encore performances kicked off at midnight following the show. There is another Encore this Saturday night at 8:00PM EST.
Thanks to Tom Frangione who assisted in this report from the Apollo.
In the second great Beatles surprise of the year, Paul McCartney performed Scrambled Eggs on The Jimmy Fallon Show. (For the young fans, who may not know, this was Paul’s original working title for Yesterday, the most recorded song in history!) Jimmy actually did a super job singing with Sir Paul and adding harmonies. You can tell it was the thrill of his lifetime to actually sing with Sir Paul. It was a great TV moment. CLICK HERE to view it. SiriusXM has announced the Live Broadcast of Paul at the Apollo Theater this Monday, December 13th at 8:00PM EST on 5 of their stations including the Band On The Run Radio on Sirius 33 and XM27. It was a busy week in NYC for Sir Paul!
America’s most prestigious tribute for creative artists, The Kennedy Center Honor was presented to Sir Paul this week in Washington, DC. The evening’s closing had the feel of a FEST finale, except it was Paul singing Hey Jude and President Obama and his family came on stage to join in. It will air on CBS on Tuesday, December 28th. Another great honor to the most honored musician in history!
Photo is by our friend and Chicago FEST regular Jorie Gracen. See all her photos of Paul on her site – http://www.photos.mccartney.net/
It is absolutely impossible to understand the events of that night 30 years ago, but we have had to learn to live with the grim details. Like Lincoln, John & Robert Kennedy, Ghandi, & Martin Luther King, John Lennon was a visionary looking for peace and was assassinated at an early age. But John was not a world leader but a musician, a singer, a songwriter, a Beatle, a peacenik, a poet, a husband, a father, and one of the most famous people to ever walk the face of this planet. For most first generation fans, it was te worst night of our lives. We will always treasure Yoko’s bravery in helping all of us through it in that first week, To imagine what the world would be like if that night never happened is an exercise in futility.We know it had to be better.
What we do have is his body of work to listen to , to read and to look at. We prefer to honor John on his birthday (October 9th) not today. Today is a day of personal reflection and how much he meant to us. So go ahead and listen to his music and remember exactly what it was that made him feel so close to us. We all shine on…We love you and miss you, John.
I hope for one day you’ll join us…
Thousands of fans have joined to spread his message of peace, love and music by changing their Facebook profile pictures in John’s honor.
Thank you to fan Elizabeth Andres for this wonderful idea. Please share this with your friends by sharing this blog post, and inviting friends to join: The Fest For Beatles Fans Facebook Page
Yesterday on Facebook, we asked what your favorite date in Beatles history was, and what a wonderful mix of answers you gave! From birthdays to historical moments to personal memories, here’s a smattering of the Beatles Timeline, as told by you. (Click here for more memorable Beatles dates!)
And the 3 winners of the calendars are: Luis Hestres, Maria Luque and Jen Caliendo. Please send your addresses to Jackie at thefest dot com. Congratulations all!
Shannon Hintz- July 7, 1940… WHEN RINGO WAS BORN!!!!! 
Katie Gates- Johnny boys birthday!! Oct 9, 1940
Corey Lyn Nester- 18 June 1942- Paul McCartney is born and therefore will be destined to become a Beatle. YAY!
Laurie Dykas Hull- 2-24-1943 George’s birthdate! LOVE GEORGE!! ♥♥♥
Luis Hestres- July 6, 1957: the day John Lennon met Paul McCartney. No other Beatles date is more important. Everything flows from that day.
Sassi Theune- 17. August 1960: The boys gave their first concert, under the Name “Beatles”.
Amy Franza- NOVEMBER 9, 1961….BRIAN EPSTEIN ATTENDED A LUNCHTIME PERFORMANCE BY THE BEATLES AT THE CAVERN CLUB..IF BRIAN NEVER WENT TO THE CAVERN, HE WOULD HAVE NEVER PUSHED FOR THEM…THEY WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN INTRODUCED TO GEORGE MARTIN AND SIGNED TO PARLOPHONE IN ’62…THE REST IS HISTORY!!
Chris Bandy- August 18th 1962 Ringo is the Beatles new drummer
Jennifer Fingard- January 20, 1964 : Meet the Beatles lp is released. Its my favorite because my mom was born on January 20,1964 and it was the first Beatles lp I ever owned!
Sherry King- February 7, 1964 of course! The Beatles landed in America and changed the music culture of America and across the world. What a great 28th birthday that must have been for my Mom. I’ve always been so jealous!!
Kelly Story- February 9, 1964…The night The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan show and the night I was conceived.
Maria Luque- August 15, 1965 The Beatles play at Shea Stadium- because august 15 is my birthday!!! 
Katie Cochran- Dec. 3rd, 1965 – Rubber Soul released. My fave album! Dec. 3rd this year should’ve been the day my daughter was born, but she was impatient and came on Oct. 25th instead.
Kathy Culwell- August 29, 1966 at Candlestick Park San Francisco. Final concert together. I wasn’t there ! too young.
Amanda White App- June 1, 1967 WHY???? SGT. PEPPERS LONELY HEART CLUB BAND came out!!! that albums many generes… with the Indian, jazz, classical… etc… man that album changed my life forever!!!!
Don Romano- 28 July 1968 – ‘Mad Day Out’ photo session. They looked their coolest here.
Joe DiMuro- 08.26.1968 “Hey Jude” was released as the first single from The Beatles’ record label Apple Records.
Trudi Fisher Cabrera- Jan. 30, 1969. Apple building rooftop concert.
Crystal Calderon Ayala- October 6 1969, “Something” is released. First time ever that a Harrison song is on the a side of a single. My most favorite song ever!
Maria Luque Wait- no I got it. April 28 1974 the day mr mark lapidos met john. Hahah do I win do I win????
Elizabeth Andres- April 24th 1976, the day of lorne michaels’s offer for the Beatles to appear on SNL because John and Paul “supposedly” were watching it together and were going to go down to Studio 8!
Jen Caliendo- September 14, 1991 – my 9th birthday. My uncle put a pair of those gigantic old headphones on me and played the Sgt. Pepper album for me. That was the first time I ever heard The Beatles and I have been hooked ever since! My uncle has since passed, but I will never forget that day and cherish that he passed his love of the Fab Four on to me
Jay Reednzl- August 31, 1999. Yellow Submarine on VHS/DVD. My introduction to the greatest band of all time.
Scott O’Rourke- Nov 29 2002 The Concert For George
Carol Ames- November 8, 2005 – I had FRONT row tickets to see Paul in San Jose, CA. He not only SIGNED and POSED WITH the painting I had done of him but his DVD (The Space Within US) shows him signing it!! He also is seen on the DVD carrying the flowers I had brought for him and tossed on stage. Hands down the BEST day of my LIFE!
Connor Langan- September 9th 2009 the day the beatles rock band came out. It reinstalled my love for them and then it made me happier thanks to that game I got hooked on the greatest band ever.
