At 35, producer Andrew Watt has an enviable roster of clients-turned-collaborators, including the late Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, and Iggy Pop, just to name a select few.

But someone he never expected to reach out to use his services? Well, a Beatle – specifically, Paul McCartney.

“Just saying that sounds like a fake statement,” Watt tells The Telegraph. Or, as he aptly puts it, “I am the luckiest fucker to be in the room with people who changed my life before I ever met them.”

Indeed, right before Watt met McCartney, he instructed his assistant to do something a little bit different…

“I literally had to tell him to slap me. Paul McCartney was coming to my house in Beverly Hills to have tea… As a child, I knew every Beatles song, I studied every Beatles chord – I couldn’t really fathom that a Beatle was about to be in my kitchen.

“I needed a slap, right?” he quips.

The result of the Watt-McCartney collaboration is on full display on the Beatle’s upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. The two worked together for around five years, slotting in sessions around McCartney’s touring schedule.

“Working with Paul was like being a student at college, every day watching him bounce around the studio like a scientist in a laboratory,” describes Watt.

“Watching him go between each instrument, arrange background vocals, and see how he layers the harmony, how he records drums – he knows not to hit the cymbals as hard because he wants to compress the overhead mic to get his kit sound… I mean, it’s mastery on another level.”

Watt recalls recording the song Home to Us, a heartfelt duet between McCartney and Ringo Starr that's part of the new album, as a particularly moving experience.

“I will never forget looking across the sound booth in the studio and seeing Paul smiling, and I’m playing guitar to Ringo’s drums. I mean, that was probably the craziest moment in my life,” he concludes.

In a recent interview, McCartney explained how John Lennon is still inspiring his songwriting six decades on.

Detroit-born bassist and producer Don Was has rubbed elbows with a who’s who of timeless artists including Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, the Rolling Stones and Willie Nelson – but his approach to the work remains simple.

“I try to play from the heart, listen and react, stay in the groove, support the storytelling, and refrain from showing off too much,” he tells Bass Player.

But he admits: “If we’re being honest, the weakest link in the rig has always been my fingers and harmonic naiveté. I harbor no illusions about being a session bassist. I’m not in the same league as Jamerson, Pino, Hutch, Lee Sklar, Marcus, Nathan, David Hood or Chuck Rainey.”

Which doesn’t mean he can’t hack it. “I’ve got a feel that’s occasionally appropriate for a song,” he allows. “Brian Wilson said he called me for sessions because I sounded like a guy in a band and not a session player. I’m okay with that.”

At 73, Was isn’t slowing down. He’s the President of Blue Note Records, and he recently started a new group, Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble. He says he’s driven by a rule he learned years ago: “The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is realizing that you just need to play with soul. It’s already inside you.”

What inspired you to pick up the bass guitar?

Seeing McCartney on Ed Sullivan in 1964, when I was 12. I noticed his guitar only had four strings, but I didn’t know what a bass actually did. I thought it was a guitar missing the high B and E strings – I was soon to learn otherwise!

The best band at our junior high, The Shy Guys, needed a bass player. I answered the ad, and the leader, Ron Lefko, came over with his guitar to audition me. He said, ‘Let’s play Walk, Don’t Run.’ I knew the chords and played them on my guitar, very carefully avoiding the B and E strings.

Ron said, ‘Okay, you know the chords – now play the bass part.’ I said, ‘That was the bass part. I never touched the B or E string!’ He looked perplexed, then kindly explained what the bass actually is.

I didn’t get the gig, but I did go buy a skinny-necked, Bill Wyman-style Framus Star Bass and an Ampeg B-15, and I started practicing.

You were influenced by the blues, jazz, and ’60s counterculture. How did that shape your playing?

Oh, I stunk at all three styles! But at 19, a brilliant Bill Evans–influenced jazz pianist in Detroit named Lenore Paxton hired me to play in her trio. She showed me the ropes about remembering changes, creating walking bass lines and locking down a groove.

I played in her trio for a decade – four or five sets a night, four nights a week – at a groovy, dimly-lit bar called Bob ’n Rob’s. It was maybe the best gig I ever had. We had a lot of fun and she made a bass player out of me.

Detroit exposed us to a cultural jambalaya of styles. On off-nights, I’d play with all kinds of musicians: a gypsy band, Ted Lucas’ folk-rock band, musical theater pit bands.

Did you get into the drug scene?

Got way into it! Self-consciousness and fear are a musician’s fiercest enemies, and drugs that obliterate those roadblocks have a strong allure. Unfortunately that approach comes with its own set of “ancillary issues.”

If you're in it for the long haul, I’d recommend a methodology that keeps your receptors open, but also lets you move through life gracefully, without wrapping your car around a phone pole or pushing your friends and family away.

What did your bass rig look like once you got going?

I’ve always favored a simple, direct setup. You can’t lose with an Ampeg SVT, though in recent years I’ve also gotten an incredible thrill from a Benson Gnostic. I’ve got a couple of ’60s Fenders, a couple of beautiful Roger Sadowsky Jazz basses.

For the past few years I’ve been playing Bill Nash’s 1963 Precision models – they give me all the joy I’m looking for. No pedals. I use David Gage pickups on double bass, but given the emphasis placed on subwoofers and bass drums in contemporary sound reinforcement, the warmth of the double bass gets somewhat obliterated in larger venues.

So I’ve started using an Ampeg Baby Bass or an Eminence 4-string with the Gage pickup for a little more definition. In the studio, I’ve been using the Acme MTP-66 Motown preamp as a direct box.

Tell us about working with The B-52s on Cosmic Thing and Good Stuff.

I can tell you who played bass – it wasn’t me! Sarah Lee played on Cosmic Thing, and Sarah, Tracy Wormworth, and Hutch Hutchinson played on Good Stuff, at least on the tracks I produced.

The sessions were fast. Everyone played and sang live in the room at once. Love Shack was recorded in one take. Both records were made in a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere, and we had a lot of fun. Listeners can perceive the vibe in the room – they can hear joy and they can hear struggle.

You did play bass on Dylan’s Under the Red Sky.

I haven’t played on most of the records I’ve produced. I don’t play unless someone specifically asks; it feels presumptuous and unsavory to force yourself on an artist. The biggest problem with playing and producing is losing objectivity – you go into the control room and focus on what you just played instead of the big picture.

But Dylan is my hero. Since I was 14 my dream in life was to play bass with him. So I wrote myself into the scene. I don’t think I ruined any songs, and we had a ball. It was a loose, relaxed album.

Bob is smart, very funny, and a master record-maker. Over the years I’ve learned from him about putting a premium on feel, trusting your instincts and avoiding too much polish. I’ve done a bunch of things with him over 35 years – if you’re a fan of his work, I can assure you that your admiration is well-placed.

You produced Iggy Pop and Ringo Starr in the early ’90s.

Ringo and Iggy have one big thing in common: they’re incredibly underrated. Ringo has an unbelievable feel – he swings like crazy, plays with a lyrical musicality, and infuses joy and personality into every bar. The Beatles would not have impacted culture the way they did without his contribution. For bass players, he’s a total gas to play with.

As for Iggy, every wild story you’ve heard probably contains a kernel of truth, but he’s so much more than that. He’s a highly cultured, well-read, smart, and sensitive cat – a poet disguised as a human lightning bolt. Greatest frontman in rock ’n’ roll history and a brilliant, evocative songwriter with a unique perspective. I’m really proud of the two albums we made.

You’ve worked extensively with Bonnie Raitt. What’s she like?

It’s hard for me to talk about Bonnie without getting emotional because I love her so much. She’s the most soulful vocalist walking the face of the Earth, and to paraphrase Archie Bell, she can play guitar just as good as she sings. She learned from the blues masters and earned their complete respect.

There’s no disconnect between her voice and her guitar. It’s one voice, kinda like Aretha Franklin with her piano or Willie Nelson with his guitar, Trigger. I once produced a duet between Willie and Bonnie – their voices and guitars wove together seamlessly.

What’s the backstory behind producing the Stones’ Voodoo Lounge and Bridges to Babylon?

In 1993 the Stones had just signed with Virgin Records and the label wanted them to have a producer. They sent me to NYC while the band was auditioning bass players at SIR.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards came over and sat on either side of me, and both started talking at the same time – neither one of them yielded to the other guy! My head was whipping back and forth like I was watching a ping-pong match.

Best I could tell, Mick was outlining what he wanted in a producer, and Keith was explaining why they didn’t need a fucking producer! It went on for about two minutes, which, In that situation, is an excruciatingly long time!

Finally, they both ran out of steam. Silence. Then Keith said, “Are you sure you want to be the meat in this sandwich?” I walked out convinced I’d never see them again.

What changed?

Four days later, Keith called, apologized for being curt, and said maybe they could use a producer. He wanted to use Don Smith as the engineer for Voodoo Lounge because he’d done a great job on his two solo records with The Expensive Winos.

But Mick wanted a neutral partisan behind the board and Keith wanted me to talk with him about it. I'd been working with Don Smith a lot and I thought he would be perfect for the album. So I called Mick and told him that Don was my choice, not just Keith's.

Mick relented, and when I called Keith to tell him Don Smith was in, he said, ‘Your name's not Don Was – it's Don Is!’ I was hired, and the same pattern of shuttle diplomacy continued for the next 25 years!

We made four studio albums together: Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon, A Bigger Bang, and Blue and Lonesome. I also produced a handful of live albums, a bunch of new singles for greatest hits packages, and I finished old tracks for deluxe reissues of Exile on Main St. and Some Girls.

They've been like generous big brothers to me and taught me a whole lot about music. I also got to play bass with them any time Darryl Jones couldn't make it to a rehearsal or a writing session.

Is the chemistry between Mick and Keith as volatile yet magical as it’s made out to be?

All that crap is ephemeral and disappears the minute they start playing. The musical conversation going on between these guys is masterful, relaxed and jocular. They listen to each other closely and respond with lightning speed.

Charlie would play something on his hi-hat that would make Keith respond with a certain figure, which would make Mick phrase the next line differently, which would make Ronnie play something wild that Charlie would pick up on.

They were four enormous musical presences who came fully to life when they were playing as the Rolling Stones in front of a stadium full of folks. They are the greatest band ever.

What’s the key to getting the most out of Keith?

Keith is sharp as a tack and very well-read. He singlehandedly changed the concept of rhythm and lead guitar. The notion that he’s somewhat sloppy is a misnomer – if you listen to how crisp his attack is and how he releases the notes rather than letting them blur everything up, you understand that he's got impeccable technique and a deep groove.

As he gets older, he gets better; more succinct and effective in his choices. So yeah, he's still totally got it. And the key to getting the most out of him is to stay the fuck out of his way and let Keith be Keith!

Are you working on the next Stones album?

I think the torch has been passed. Mick wants to make modern pop albums, and I believe that Exile on Main St. sounds like what a modern Rolling Stones record should be. He’s certainly earned the right to chase what he hears.

I introduced him to my buddy Andrew Watt – younger, brilliant, rock-rooted, and hit-savvy. We're all still good friends. People liked Hackney Diamonds and all is well.

What was it like working with Chris and Rich Robinson on the Black Crowes' Lions?

Well, if you want the truth, I wasn’t in great shape during those sessions. I wasn’t putting a premium on sleep. When you’re making records, ‘good’ is the enemy. Any motherfucker can make a good record – if you can’t make a great one, stay home.

In my compromised state I didn’t have it in me to push for greatness, which is sad because Rich, Chris, and Steve Gorman were getting along well at that moment. I view it as a squandered chance to make a timeless classic. That’s not the Black Crowes’ fault – they’re good guys and can be an awesome band when they want.

You’ve worked with Willie Nelson. Is he as stoned as people say?

He’s probably had THC in his blood every day for the last half-century, but I’ve never once seen him compromised, weakened or out of control. He maintains a nice, Zen Willie Nelson bubble – a noble state of mind to aspire to.

Along with Jimmy Scott and Frank Sinatra, Willie is one of the great phrasing geniuses of all time. Every line feels heartfelt and warm. His guitar playing is the same; voice and guitar are one storyteller.

Go to a Willie show and you’ll see a cross-section of America getting along peacefully – folks who’d normally be at each other’s throats in these polarized times. That’s testimony to the unifying power of music and to the strength of Willie's artistry and intelligence.

Was working with Scott Weiland in 2010 a trip?

At that moment he’d just completed rehab and spent months in a halfway house. He was making a heroic effort to be sober and reliable. His bandmates were cautious, so I was hired to work with him privately on lyrics and vocals.

He was the opposite of volatile; he was quite sweet, had a fantastic work ethic, and was determined to deliver the goods. We worked every day for about three weeks. He wrote deep lyrics and sang the shit out of the songs. We had wonderful, philosophical conversations, and I had tremendous respect for him.

When he passed, it hit me hard. He fought his demons with all the courage a man could muster. He won many battles but was simply outflanked and couldn't win the war.

After a few albums with John Mayer, what can you say about him?

John is a brilliant guitarist, songwriter, and singer who gets even more expressive with time. He knows how to get thick, beautiful tones and how to build compelling arrangements. He generates a dizzying array of parts – my biggest role is helping him choose the most effective bits.

He also has the most comprehensive artistic vision I’ve ever seen. Before we even begin recording he knows what the album cover, tour ads and merch should look like. It blows your mind to watch him in action.

A couple of weeks ago I was telling him about an interview in which Woody Allen said that, as a director, if you get 40 percent of what you originally envisioned up on the screen, you're doing well. That seemed like a pretty unambitious batting average to me.

I asked John what percentage of his vision he was willing to reasonably accept. Without missing a beat, he said, “I accept nothing less than 100 per cent.” We've made three albums together, and that answer completely checks out.

Where does the bass player version of you end and the producer begin?

Everything I do seems inextricably connected, including my work as president of a record company. The goal is always to help create music that gets under people’s skin. It’s about making them feel something – helping them make sense of their lives and deal with a world that's increasingly chaotic and confusing.

Or at the very least, make them feel better for three and a half minutes. That’s why we’re here.

What’s next for you?

My new band, Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, released our first album, Groove in the Face of Adversity, in October. We’re a nine-piece soul-jazz group from the Motor City that tries to embody the raw, honest, deep-pocketed musical traditions of our hometown.

We’ve got months of touring lined up for 2026, and we’ve started a new album. I’m in my 15th year as president of Blue Note Records and we’ve got the strongest release schedule in the company’s history.

Production-wise, there are some very cool records on the calendar – but I’m superstitious about discussing them until they’re in the can. I’m 73, but I feel energized like a kid, and the plan is to keep moving and growing till I drop.

• Groove in the Face of Adversity is on sale now.

Matt Bissonette has played with the who’s who of the music industry – serving as a first-call bass player for artists such as Ringo Starr, Elton John, David Lee Roth, and Jeff Lynne, to name just a few. And for Friends fans, you can also hear his bass chops on the in-show music, which – believe it or not – ended up being his most lucrative gig.

“Never in a million years did I think that doing those Friday, once-a-month Friends sessions would turn into the highest-paying gig I've ever had!” he tells Bass Player with a chuckle.

Bissonette is more than happy to lift the veil on what typically went down while recording music for the ’90s and early aughts staple.

“I'd show up at 09:45, and we would start tracking at 10:00, going until 1:00, taking time to eat in between. We would just make up music on the fly in little five-second clips, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.”

He continues, “Our friend Michael Skloff was the musical director. All I remember was every time we would record, we would have tears in our eyes because it was just one big party, no stress, just a real blast to do. Doug Ryder is an amazing engineer, and he would get the sounds instantly.”

As for the gear used? “I would try a different bass every session, but usually what I do for stuff like that is come in with a five-string that I know the engineer isn't going to have to work with.

“It just sounds good right when you plug it in. I used my Music Man Stingray five-string a lot, and I had a Bossa five-string that I used a lot as well as my Bongo Bass. Truly one of the best gigs I've ever had!”

Stay tuned for Bass Player’s interview with Matt Bissonette, which will be published in the coming weeks.

Paul McCartney brought his Got Back tour to a star-studded close in London last night (December 19) by performing Beatles classics with Ringo Starr and Ronnie Wood.

The career-spanning setlist included several Beatles, Wings, and solo hits, but it was the surprise appearances of Macca’s fellow rock ’n’ roll heavyweights – and the high-profile return of a legendary bass guitar – that have understandably stolen the show.

A tireless 36-song performance got out of the traps quickly with A Hard Day’s Night, with a feast of some of McCartney’s finest slices of songwriting, including Blackbird, Let Me Roll It – which was bestowed with a little of Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady for its final throes – and, of course, his villain-slaying epic, Live and Let Die, following suit.

McCartney had the backing of a children's choir for a timely run-through of Wonderful Christmastime before bringing out Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, with whom he dished out the shuffling grooves of Get Back – a rendition made extra special thanks to Macca’s instrument of choice.

Over 50 years ago, McCartney’s Höfner violin bass was stolen while the Beatles were recording in 1972. The instrument had previously been used on a slew of Beatles songs, including Love Me Do and She Loves You, and is one of the band’s most recognizable instruments.

Miraculously, a project spearheaded by the Lost Bass Project – which had a little help from a Guitar World scribe – helped locate the bass earlier this year, and reunite the Höfner with its rightful owner.

McCartney was said to have been as “excited as a schoolboy” upon its discovery and return, and his promise that it would be fixed up and return to the stage has come true. On the night in question, Macca told the crowd: “We've been looking for it for 50 years, and I got it back. Here to make its first stage appearance in 50 years is my original bass.”

This year has been a wild one for Beatles guitars. John Lennon’s long-lost Framus 12-string acoustic was found in an attic, and George Harrison’s oddball Futurama guitar – used extensively during the band's Hamburg days – sold for $1.27m at auction.

Elsewhere, John Lennon’s first-ever Vox amp was found under strange circumstances, with Guitar World breaking the story in October.

Perhaps then, with all that nostalgia in the air, it prompted the multi-instrumentalist to invite his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr onto the stage during the tour’s mega finale.

“I've had a great night tonight!” Ringo quipped to the crowd, before retreating behind his drum kit.

Of course, they chose two unstoppable Beatles jams for the occasion, strutting through a roof-raising Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – aided by some smooth licks from Rusty Anderson – and the proto-metal pomp of Helter Skelter.

It was the perfect conclusion to a mammoth 59-date run of shows that officially began back in 2022.

“It’s fantastic, playing with my old mate, but there comes a time when we’ve got to go home,” Starr says as he departs the stage. As for McCartney, fears that this could be his final tour seem to have been extinguished as he bids the crowd adieu with a simple but telling line: “All that remains to be said is – see you next time!”

Last month, McCartney joined Jack White and St. Vincent for an electric rendition of The Beatles’ The End during a record-breaking set at Mexico’s Corona Capital Festival.

The Beatles have been the subject of some high-profile documentaries recently. In 2022, we had Peter Jackson’s Get Back epic, which charted the Fab Four’s journey in the lead up to recording their last-ever studio album.

This year, we have Beatles ’64 – a hugely anticipated film produced by generational filmmaker and award-winning director Martin Scorsese, which tells the story of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison’s seminal appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. And, thanks to this Disney+ Black Friday steaming deal, you can watch the doc – and a ream of other Disney titles – from as little as $2.99 per month.

Few gigs are as famed as the Beatles’ New York turn from 1964, which was eternalized on The Ed Sullivan show. The first of three performances in February that year was viewed by 73 million viewers – making it the most-watched event of its time – and is considered to be the catalyst and cultural watershed moment that triggered Beatles hysteria (or ‘Beatlemania’) in the US.

Beatles ’64 – which is available exclusively on Disney+ – throws viewers into this formative time of the Beatles career, documenting the aftermath and cultural impact of the band's historic trip to New York for the gig.

Directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Scorses, Beatles ’64 is currently receiving rave reviews – it is sitting with 97% on Rotten Tomatoes – and should be considered essential viewing for all Fab Four fans.

For Black Friday, Disney+ is offering some bundle deals for new subscribers, the best of which lets you get both Disney+ and Hulu (both with ads) for just $2.99 a month for a full year. That represents a huge saving over the regular rate of $10.99 a month. To put that into perspective, this bundle will help you save a grand total of $96 over the course of 12 months.

Once signed up, you also have access to the rest of the Disney+ catalog, meaning for just $2,99 a month (that’s less than a cup of coffee) you’ll never be short of Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, or Pixar titles to choose from.

For more Cyber Weekend discounts, be sure to keep it locked to our Black Friday guitar deals page, where we'll be showcasing the very best deals from across the internet.

Even if you know hardly anything about the frenzied years of Beatlemania, you probably have at least a vague image in your head of tens of thousands of screaming fans – overwhelming the sound of the Fab Four's live performances.

Technology, in every facet of life, has obviously advanced light years in the six decades since, and the world of onstage guitar amplification is no exception.

There was no such thing as an arena or stadium touring circuit when the Beatles took over America in the mid-'60s, and the band's onstage guitar amp rig was laughably inadequate in the face of the sheer volume of the hysteria that greeted them wherever they played.

In a 1997 interview with Guitar World, George Harrison reflected wryly on the band's live situation, remarking, “We used 30-watt [Vox] amps until we got those really big 100-watt amps at Shea Stadium. And nothing was even mic'd up through the P.A. – they just had to listen to our amps and the two vocal mics. Sometimes we'd just play rubbish.

“At Shea, John was playing that little Vox organ with his elbow and we were laughing hysterically instead of singing the backup vocals. I couldn't hear a thing.”

In the same interview, Ringo Starr echoed Harrison's sentiment, joking, “After a while, we figured we could probably go out there and just fart, and still get the same manic response.

“It must have looked like miming because nobody could hear anything, including us. That doesn't help you as a musician. I couldn't do any fills or we'd lose track of the song. I used to lean over and try to read Paul's lips to keep track of where we were at.”

Though they changed things up in the studio later in their career, the Fab Four have long been associated with Vox amps. John Lennon, for one, began his relationship with the company with his purchase of a Vox AC15 Twin in 1962 (that particular amp, incidentally, was reportedly rediscovered this year.)

The AC15 was likely just fine for the notoriously cramped confines of Liverpool's appropriately-named Cavern Club, where the nascent Fab Four frequently plied their trade at the time, but Vox would swap out Lennon's AC15 for the more powerful AC30 as the band began landing their first hits in early 1963.

Vox would gamely race to keep up with the Beatles' rapidly evolving needs in the following years, giving them first the AC50 and subsequently the aforementioned AC100 (nicknamed the Super Beatle, and also used by Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love). But the technology of the time still wasn't nearly enough to meet their unprecedented needs.

The inability of the band to get their music across – and even hear themselves and each other – through the sea of screams was the most significant factor in their decision to stop touring in 1966.

“I remember many times just sitting outside concert halls waiting for the police to escort us in and thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, I really don't want to go through this,’” Paul McCartney told Guitar World in 1997.

“‘We've done enough, let's take the money and run. Let's go down to [English seaside resort] Brighton, or something.’ If we could have gotten away with it, we would have.”

Just shy of 60 years after they forever altered the landscape of popular music with their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and 43 years after the tragic murder of John Lennon, a new song from The Beatles – said to definitively be the last – has been released.

The song, Now and Then, was written by Lennon, and recorded (in demo form) at his apartment in New York City. As part of The Beatles Anthology project, the surviving Beatles – Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – added new instrumental and vocal parts to Lennon's demo. 

Now and Then was one of three Lennon demos the remaining Beatles worked on – the other two being Free as a Bird and Real Love. Though the latter two were released on the band's mid-'90s-era Anthology 1 and Anthology 2 albums, respectively, the technological limitations of the day prevented Now and Then from being completed to the band's satisfaction.

Now though, Now and Then is finally seeing the light of day. Featuring newly recorded contributions from McCartney and Starr, and guitar work from the late Harrison, the song can be streamed below.

In a recent statement, McCartney said of recording Now and Then, “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. 

“In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.“ 

“It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us,“ added Starr. “It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.“ 

Guitar World magazine Editor-in-Chief Damian Fanelli has been playing George, John and Paul's guitar parts for the past 39 years with his New York City-based band, the Blue Meanies. Aside from being regular performers at the annual Abbey Road on the River festival in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the Blue Meanies recently played the Beatlesfestivalen in Bergen, Norway, where they shared the bill with former Beatles drummer Pete Best. 

Of Now and Then, Fanelli said, “I think it’s great – thumping and dreamy with an updated nod to that very specific psychedelic sound they helped create all those years ago. The lyrics are definitely weak, but hey, the whole thing is based on an incomplete demo recording.

“Think about the song’s title and how it relates to the band members; we’re hearing John in his 30s, George in his 50s, Paul and Ringo in their 80s and backing vocals from when these guys were in their 20s; it's like this weird dream – but then you wake up and say, 'Wait, this actually happened?!' 

“Hats off to Paul for making Now and Then his white whale, for being its Dr. Frankenstein and bringing it back to life with deluxe parts. Speaking of which, I appreciate Paul’s slide solo, which fills out the song nicely while also honoring George, one of the greatest slide players of all time. 

“If you’re gonna put a bow on your band’s legacy – 53 years after breaking up and after two members have passed away – this is a nice way to do it.“

Set at The Band's "farewell concert" of the same name on Thanksgiving Day (November 25), 1976, and directed by Martin Scorsese, The Last Waltz captures one of the most momentous, over-the-top and star-studded concerts in rock music history.

Though centered around The Band themselves, it's most famous for a scarcely believable guest list that included, but was not limited to: Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Paul Butterfield, Emmylou Harris, and, of course, the man who brought The Band into the limelight, Bob Dylan.

You could write a book on all the electric guitar greatness that occurred at the five-hour show, with an obvious highlight being the two solo-heavy, star-studded jams that went down during its second encore.

The concert's first encore, though, was its climactic moment, and it's powered by one of the greatest Fender Stratocaster armies ever assembled.

For a truly show-stopping version of I Shall Be Released – a Dylan tune made famous by The Band on their debut album, Music from Big Pink – Dylan, Band guitarist Robbie Robertson, Eric Clapton and Ronnie Wood led one of the most star-studded rock ensembles to ever grace a stage.   

Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 6th greatest song Dylan's ever written, and influential enough that even The Beatles jammed on it, I Shall Be Released is one of rock's most towering hymnals, an elegant, yearning ballad that calls for the kind of ragged, evening-ending and (let's be honest here) intoxicated group sing-along that it got in The Last Waltz.

One thing the subdued, melancholy tune does not call for, however, is a blaring guitar presence. 

For instance, rather than pick up his fire-breathing "Old Black" Gibson Les Paul – as he would later in the evening – Last Waltz guest Neil Young stuck to providing just backing vocals on I Shall Be Released, with fellow guest and guitar great Joni Mitchell doing the same.

The fearsome foursome of Dylan, Robertson, Clapton and Wood – all using gorgeous Strats – focused, then, on rhythm work and tasteful little embellishments, so as to not overshadow the evening's most poignant moment.

According to Reverb.com, Dylan used a '50s-era Strat, while Wood toiled away on one from the late '60s/early '70s. Both, by the looks of it, are graced with the classic sunburst finish.

Clapton, meanwhile, used "Blackie", the legendary black Strat that served as his chief six-string from 1974 through 1985. Notably, this same guitar went on to be sold for a then world-record $959,000 at auction in 2004, and it remains one of the most expensive guitars ever sold at auction.

Of all the beautiful guitars on the stage though, it was Robbie Robertson's "bronzed" 1954 Strat that was the most fascinating of the lot.

Purchased by the Band guitarist from Norman’s Rare Guitars in 1973, the Strat was used by Robertson on multiple Dylan albums (on which the legendary singer/songwriter was backed by the Band), before receiving quite the makeover for the big screen.

"When we were preparing to do The Last Waltz, I thought, I should do something for the occasion, and I had it bronzed,” Robertson told Guitar Aficionado in 2011. “They dipped the body in bronze, just like they do with baby shoes. They dip it in, leave it for a minute, and then take it out."

“So then they put the guitar back together again, and it had a completely different sound to it. Just like you would think, it had a more metallic sound. And I liked the sound I got out of it, but it was heavier.”

The unique-sounding Strat – which was later recreated in immaculate detail by the Fender Custom Shop for an ultra-limited run of replicas – helped Robertson stand out, sonically and visually, amidst the crowd of six-string heavyweights.

It bears mentioning that The Last Waltz was not well-received by all members of The Band, with drummer Levon Helm in particular later publicly expressing his distaste for the entire project.

It does mark, however, not only the final public performance by the classic lineup of one of rock's most influential bands, but one of the greatest assemblages of musical talent (and Stratocasters, to boot) on a single stage on a single night, ever. 

Eddie Vedder has revealed that his new album Earthling, due February 11, will feature guest spots from Elton John, Ringo Starr and Stevie Wonder. 

The Pearl Jam frontman and songwriter revealed the eyebrow-raising guest list in a new interview with MOJO. Wonder reportedly features on the record's 11th track, Picture, while the specifics of Starr and John’s involvement remain under-wraps for the time being.

In addition, the songwriter revealed he and producer Andrew Watt have included a montage of Vedder’s late father’s vocals in the record.

“I didn’t really get to know my real father,” Vedder says (via Louder). “I met him maybe three or four times as a kid, but he was, you know, a friend of the family. It would have been nice to have been in a room with him at some point before he died when I was 13. It would have been nice to share that I knew that he was my pop, but it didn’t happen.”

The songwriter reveals that around 10 years ago a contact passed him some photos of his father and, later, a disc of vocal recordings made by him. 

“I carried that disc around for two, three months in my suitcase, not ready to hear it. Finally, I got the guts, and after a couple bottles of wine played it one night in Argentina. And he was good. It was incredible – like he left a message for me.”

The recordings have since been reworked by Vedder and Watt for inclusion on Earthling, alongside the big name guest talent. 

“I thought of the record like a setlist – by the end, that’s when you start bringing out special guests,” continues Vedder. “We had Stevie and Elton, Ringo was an incredible addition… and then my pop gets to be on a record with those guys, which is not too shabby.”

Those names come in addition to a previous guest spot by Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and the already formidable talent of Vedder’s touring band, The Earthlings, which features Andrew Watt, alongside Josh Klinghoffer, Chris Chaney and Chad Smith.

As of today, Vedder has also released a new cut from the album, Brother The Cloud, which follows previous singles The Long Way and The Haves. The song has something of early Pearl Jam DNA – with a funky soul-style breakdown – and details the loss of a close friend. You can check out the new song above, and see the full track list for Earthling below.

Eddie Vedder – Earthling:

1. Invincible
2. Long Way
3. Power of Right’
4. Brother The Cloud
5. Fallout Today
6. The Dark
7. The Haves
8. Good and Evil
9. Rose of Jericho
10. Try
11. Picture
12. Mrs. Mills
13. On My Way

Stream or purchase Brother The Cloud now. 

Johnny Winter, one of the all-time giants of blues guitar, passed away back in 2014.

Now, his brother, Edgar Winter, has assembled a jaw-dropping all-star cast to pay tribute to his brother's musical legacy in the form of a tribute album, Brother Johnny.

Featuring 17 tracks hand-picked by Edgar and producer Ross Hogarth – including two new Edgar Winter originals – the album is set for an April 15 release via Quarto Valley Records. 

About that all-star cast, though. For Brother Johnny, Edgar Winter recruited a simply astonishing guest list that includes Joe Bonamassa, Doyle Bramhall II, Ringo Starr, Derek Trucks, Robben Ford, Billy Gibbons, David Grissom, Joe Walsh, Phil X, Taylor Hawkins, Warren Haynes, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, Keb' Mo', John McFee, Doug Rappoport, Bobby Rush, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Waddy Wachtel.

The album's first single – a cover of Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll standard, Johnny B. Goode, featuring some red-hot electric guitar work from David Grissom and vocals from Winter and Joe Walsh – can be heard below. 

Edgar chose Johnny B. Goode due to its significance in his and Johnny's story. As children (Johnny was 14 or 15, according to Edgar) the Winters won their first talent contest in Beaumont, Texas with a cover of the Berry classic. The prize? A chance to make their own record, an opportunity that led to the recording of the duo's first single, the Johnny-penned School Day Blues.

Edgar was first approached about making a tribute album for his brother almost immediately following Johnny's passing on July 16, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland.

“Many people immediately started trying to convince me to do a Johnny Winter tribute album," he said. "But I was totally devastated, and the timing just didn't feel right to me. It wasn’t until after I completed the Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest, a tour we were meant to do together with our respective bands, that the idea of a tribute record started to take form.”

“I had naturally expected the whole thing to be cancelled," Edgar continued. "But much to my surprise, the promoters begged me to go on with the tour as planned, asking me to headline. The first night, after playing Frankenstein, I closed the show with Johnny B. Goode, Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo, and Jumpin' Jack Flash, dedicating the end of the set to Johnny.

“I had anticipated the tour to be very emotional, perhaps sad, and possibly difficult, but playing those songs turned out to be a great source of strength and comfort to me. Everyone on the tour was so kind and supportive, getting up to jam, and it became a kind of tradition. 

"There was such an overwhelming outpouring of love and respect for Johnny, I began to realize it was not just business people sensing an opportunity here; it was Johnny's true, loyal, and devoted fans and our fellow musicians, many of whom are on this record, who wanted to see this happen as well.

“After the tour, and over the following years as talk of a tribute album continued, my wife Monique, whose intuition I trust more than my own, said, 'I think you have to make this album, both for Johnny, for yourself, and for the world. You owe that acknowledgement to your older brother. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t be where you are today. There’s no need to worry about it. If it’s meant to happen, it will.'" 

For more info on the album, head on over to Edgar Winter's website.

Ringo Starr has become the latest music artist to join online learning platform MasterClass.

Teaching Drumming and Creative Collaboration, the Beatles legend's new 10-part course takes students through a host of lessons detailing the essentials of a drum kit, playing in bands, how to approach songwriting, how to connect with an audience and more.

The course – which clocks in at almost two hours in total – will offer fans “unprecedented insight and access into Ringo's life and career”, adding that “members will leave this class inspired to explore creative collaboration and equipped to start their drumming journey and forge a personal relationship with music.”

But perhaps most intriguingly, the course rounds off with an all-star jam session featuring Toto's Steve Lukather and Eagles' Joe Walsh, two former members of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. The jam also features keyboardist Jim Cox, bass guitar legend Nathan East, and drummers Gregg Bissonette and Jim Keltner.

“Ringo is an international icon,” says David Rogier, founder and CEO of MasterClass. “As a member of the bestselling band of all time, he candidly shares a behind-the-scenes look into the trajectory of his life as a musician, teaching members how to forge a personal relationship with music and instrumentation.”

“If I can give any piece of advice, it’s to love what you’re doing,” adds Starr. “In my class, I will not only teach members how to get started with drums but share how to bring creativity into anything they are passionate about and inspire them to work at something they love.”

Ringo Starr's course is available now on MasterClass. An annual membership to the platform is $180, and gives you unlimited access to over 150 other experts' courses with topics ranging from cooking to acting to sport. And for a limited time, MasterClass is offering two memberships for the price of one. For more information, head to MasterClass.

The Beatles drummer is just the latest music artist to add his name to MasterClass's increasingly large portfolio of teachers. Earlier this month, thrash legends Metallica partnered with the platform to teach being in a band.

A never-before-heard psychedelic pop epic featuring The Beatles icons Ringo Starr and George Harrison – titled Radhe Shaam – has been unearthed in an attic in Birmingham, UK.

Originally recorded in 1968 at Trident Studios in London at the same time Starr, Harrison and the rest of the Fab Four were working on Hey Jude, Radhe Shaam was originally part of a documentary soundtrack that journalist Suresh Joshi was concurrently working on.

After bumping into Joshi at Trident, Starr and Harrison offered to play on the track while taking a break from their own recording commitments. 53 years after their studio session, the master tape was found in the attic of Joshi’s Birmingham home by one of his neighbors who was checking on him during lockdown.

Upon its miraculous discovery, Radhe Shaam was restored by producer Suraj Shinh, digitized and then distributed to Liverpool’s Beatles Museum and BBC Radio Merseyside for its first-ever public plays.

Unmistakably Harrison and unquestionably Starr, the track has the duo’s genre-defining tones all over it, from the opening overdriven electric guitar intro licks to the melodic thumps of the fill-heavy drum pattern.

Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Joshi said of the studio session, “I stood out like a sore thumb. We started talking about philosophy in general. The song itself revolves around the concept that we are all one, and that the world is our oyster.”

Of Radhe Shaam’s discovery, Joshi described the lockdown as a “blessing in disguise as we had nothing to do”, and said the track was never shared because “time had gone on, The Beatles were breaking up and had various problems so no-one wanted to [release the song]”.

Radhe Shaam wasn’t the first time Harrison and Joshi had met, though. Prior to the recording, the journalist had befriended Harrison and introduced him to celebrated Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who taught the guitarist who to play the sitar.

Liverpool Beatles Museum manager Paul Parry revealed the audience in attendance for the track’s premiere, unsurprisingly, “loved it”, and that the occasion was “absolutely amazing”.

After being "lost and found many times", Radhe Shaam finally has a proper release, with all proceeds generated from the track going to charity.

In other Beatles-related news, George Harrison's childhood home – where he first learned to play the guitar – is going up for auction on November 30.

In a bid to bring a "smile to everyone's faces and much needed joy at this difficult time", Peter Jackson, the director of upcoming documentary The Beatles: Get Back has dropped a five-minute sneak preview of the new film.

Sitting in a room filled with iconic Beatles electric guitars, Peter Jackson – whose Oscar-winning filmmaking credits include the Lord of the Rings trilogy – says the project is made of 56 hours of never-before-seen footage of The Beatles. The team working on the project also had access to 150 hours of audio which has never been heard before.

Jackson goes on to say that the montage of clips aims to give viewers a sense of the "spirit, vibe and energy" of the upcoming documentary, which showcases the warmth, camaraderie and creative genius of the legendary band. 

The film itself was intended for a 2020 release, although that was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jackson says that, with New Zealand stamping out the threat of the virus, he and his team were back in the cutting room to finish the edit of what promises to be a "unique cinematic experience".

Over a backdrop performance of Get Back, the preview teases us with new clips of rehearsals and recordings at a pivotal moment in music history.

Along with this new footage, the film also features – for the first time in its entirety – a look at The Beatles' final live performance together, along with other classic gigs.

If that doesn't satisfy your thirst for Beatles documentaries, earlier this week Paul McCartney revealed he's teaming up with Rick Rubin to create a six-part mini-series documentary which delves into the history and music of The Beatles.

The Beatles: Get Back will be released on August 27 2021.

A proverbial light at the end of the long tunnel that is 2020 has emerged, with Ringo Starr announcing a new five-song EP entitled Zoom In, which is set to be released next year.

The EP itself has been a work-in-progress throughout the year, having been recorded at Ringo's home studio between April and October, and features a long list of musical guest appearances.

The former Beatles drummer reunites with bass guitar player, vocalist and all-round music legend Paul McCartney, and teams up with the likes of Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Lenny Kravitz, Corinne Bailey and Billie Eilish collaborator FINNEAS, amongst others.

Extra precautions were taken during the recording process in order to complete the EP, with Ringo inviting only a small amount of musicians to record in the studio at once.

You can get a taste of what's to come with Here's to the Nights, the first single from the forthcoming collection penned by songwriter Diane Warren, and featuring a number of his special guests. Have a listen below.

Ringo writes that he "loved the sentiment of it" when Diane played it for him, and that it's the type of song "we all want to sing along to."

"It's a song of peace, love and friendship," Ringo goes on to say. "It feels like a good song to end the year on."

Zoom In is set to be released by Universal on March 19 2021. 

With all that leaf-blower vs 7am guitar solo rivalry out of the way, Steve Lukather has shared an upbeat new song, Run To Me, featuring Ringo Starr on drums. The famed electric guitar player, singer and songwriter says the tune is “heavily influenced” by his connection to music from the late ‘60s. 

Run To Me was co-written by Lukather and Toto alumni David Paich and Joseph Williams. The song features Luke on guitar and vocals, Starr on drums, Williams on keyboards and background vocals and Huey Lewis & The News’s John Pierce on bass.

“I wanted to release this now because it fits the moment,” Luke said. “A time where we all need a happy song for an unhappy time.

“When I got together with Joseph Williams and David Paich to collaborate on the songwriting, there was pure collective inspiration amongst the three of us to articulate this message of hope directed towards our daughters. Musically, the song is absolutely influenced by my growing up in the ‘60s, inspired by some of my favorite elements of the repertoire that defined that indelible era. 

“And, Ringo, what can I say. It is an honor to have his contribution captured on a song of mine, much less his gracious presence in the video. Over the course of the last decade, we’ve become dear friends traveling the world with one another, and much like Paich and Williams, I am certainly blessed to have these talented, amazing human beings in my life as both band mates and friends. As we all look towards the unknown of this crazy world we are living in, simply my hope is this tune brings a little peace, love and pleasant distraction to these uncertain times.”

You can check out Run To Me and the accompanying video above, complete with a hugely tasteful solo from the session great. And stay tuned for details on Luke’s forthcoming solo album, due in early 2021.

In the meantime, Lukather recently released his latest Ernie Ball Music Man Luke III and Luke III Maple Top models.

John Lennon wrote a typically oddball piece for Mersey Beat magazine in 1961 titled ‘Being A Short Diversion On The Dubious Origins Of Beatles’. He said that three boys called John, George and Paul got together. “When they were together,” he wrote, “they wondered what for after all, what for? So all of a sudden they grew guitars and fashioned a noise.”

In fact, the fledgling Beatles were like most young bands starting out. They had no money to buy good instruments and managed with anything they could get their hands on. John had a Gallotone Champion flat-top, then an electric Hofner Club 40. George Harrison moved from an Egmond/Rosetti acoustic to a Hofner President, then his own Club 40, followed by a Futurama.

Paul McCartney played a Zenith Model 17 acoustic, then a Rosetti Solid 7 electric. For their first gigs in Hamburg, Paul (still a guitarist) took the Solid 7, John his Club 40, George the Futurama, and Stu Sutcliffe a Hofner 500/5 bass. None of these were great guitars – those came later. And, fortunately, the Hamburg audience required nothing much more than a noise to drink to. 

George was later asked about his early guitar days. “I started to learn to play when I was 13 on an old Spanish model my dad picked up for 50 bob,” he explained. “It’s funny how little things can change your life. Don’t ask me why he chose a guitar instead of a mouth organ or something – they certainly weren’t popular at the time.”

• The inside story of The Beatles' turbulent break-up - and what came next

John & Rickenbacker

John Lennon was the first Beatle to get a real American guitar, at a time when a restriction on imports of US instruments to Britain had only just been lifted. In 1960, during a working visit to Hamburg, he got a Rickenbacker 325 in Mapleglo (natural) finish to replace his Club 40. 

He told an interviewer at the time that his semi-solid three‑pickup short-scale ’58 325 – which evidently had been on the shop wall for some time – was “the most beautiful guitar”. It had the cooker knobs that Rickenbacker fitted at the time and it had a Kauffman vibrato, neither apparently to John’s liking. 

The knobs he replaced quickly with smaller Hofner types. The Kauffman he replaced with a better Bigsby unit. Later, he had the guitar refinished black. A gift from Rickenbacker provided a replacement for the road-weary original, a new Jetglo (black) 325 presented during The Beatles’ first American visit early in 1964. The new Rick arrived in time for the band’s second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. 

It remained his main guitar on stage and in the studio through 1964 and into 1965, and it’s the guitar most associated with John on stage with The Beatles. He had a couple of related models, too. 

Rose-Morris, which for a while distributed Rickenbackers in the UK, gave John a 325-like 1996 in Fireglo (red sunburst) to use briefly in late ’64 when he damaged his 325. Rickenbacker also gave him a one-off 325-style Jetglo 12-string in ’64, but he didn’t use it much.

• Where Are They Now?

Yoko Ono owns the ’58 and ’64 325s and the ’64 325/12. John gave the stopgap 1996 to Ringo, who auctioned it in 2015 for $910,000.

When He Was Fab

George Harrison bought his Futurama from Hessy’s Music Centre in Liverpool in the late 1950s and used it for the next few years until it was retired and replaced with a Gretsch Duo Jet in 1961. The guitar was initially given to the magazine Beat Instrumental as a competition prize, but, surprisingly, when the winner was drawn, he didn’t play guitar and opted to take a cash alternative.

The guitar spent the next few decades in the care of Beat Instrumental’s editor Sean Mahoney and was put up for auction at Bonhams in June 2019 but didn’t make its reserve price. Seven Decades’ Phil Hylander subsequently negotiated directly with Mahoney’s family and bought the guitar.

“If you look at pretty much any picture from that era, George is holding this guitar,” Phil tells us. “It was used on [one of] the very first Beatles recording[s], Cry For A Shadow, on the infamous Hamburg tapes. It’s stood up incredibly well, it was an incredibly well-made guitar. The manufacturers [Drevokov in Czechoslovakia] were classical instrument manufacturers and it’s quite over-engineered.”

Plans are afoot for the guitar to feature in a film detailing its recommissioning, culminating in it being played live. “In our minds, it would be at an amazing gig where Dhani Harrison plays it…,” says Phil.

For more information, see Seven Decades.

George & Gretsch

George Harrison’s opportunity to join John as the owner of a real American guitar came in 1961, when he heard about a ’57 Duo Jet that a merchant seaman had for sale in Liverpool. 

George snapped up the guitar to replace his Futurama. The Jet had two DynaSonic single coils, hump-block markers and arrow-through-G knobs, and it remained his favoured stage and studio guitar into 1962.

George was a big Chet Atkins fan and soon he indulged his Gretsch passion some more, buying a new Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman model in London in 1963. It was a ’62 model in Walnut (dark brown) finish and had a double-cut thinline hollow body with trestle bracing and fake f-holes, a pair of Filter’Trons, and a Bigsby vibrato.

A few weeks later, George used it to record She Loves You, but later in ’63 he acquired a replacement Gent after that first one was damaged. 

The main visual clue of the second Gent is its flip-up mute switches either side of the tailpiece, where the first had screw-down knobs. It’s possible the second Gent was refinished black, though maybe it just had a very dark version of the regular brown. Anyway, it was quickly George’s favourite and he used it regularly until it was destroyed in late ’65 when it fell from the band’s car and was run over by a truck. 

He’d acquired yet another Gretsch Chet model over the 1963/’64 new year, a single-cut Tennessean with two single-coil HiLo’Trons, which he used in the studio and for live shows in ’64 and particularly into ’65.

• Where Are They Now?

Olivia Harrison owns the ’57 Duo Jet. George gave Brian O’Hara of The Fourmost his ’62 Gent, present whereabouts unknown, and the ’63 Gent perished in 1965. The Tennessean was stolen in 1969 and hasn’t been seen since.

A Pair of Gibson Jumbos

George and John bought a virtually identical pair of guitars in 1962, the source of some confusion later as to which instrument belonged to which Beatle. 

They ordered a pair of Gibson J-160E electro flat-tops from the Rushworth’s music shop in Liverpool – which in turn had to make a special order, because this was not a model generally available in Britain through Gibson’s distributor, Selmer. 

The two Beatles chose the J-160Es to fill a gap in their instrumental setup. It was essentially a traditional round-soundhole acoustic but with a pickup and controls built in. 

They regularly used the pair of big Gibsons either unplugged as regular acoustic guitars for songwriting on the road and for studio work, or plugged in for an amplified approximation of an acoustic on stage or when recording. So similar were the guitars that inevitably they were swapped around. 

Late in 1963, the J-160E John Lennon was playing was stolen during the band’s Christmas concert residency in London. In fact, it was the one billed originally to George – so George and John in effect continued to use John’s. 

John picked up a new J-160E while on tour in the States later in 1964, and this one stayed with him for the rest of his life. He had it painted with a blue and lilac psychedelic pattern in 1967, stripped it to the wood the following year, and drew portraits of himself and Yoko on the front in 1969. George kept John’s original 160 for the rest of his life, too.

• Where Are They Now?

Yoko Ono owns John’s ’64 J-160E and Olivia Harrison owns what became George’s 160E. John’s long-lost ’62 model was sold at auction in 2015 for $2,410,000.

George & the Rick 12

The Beatles’ live TV performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964 broke the band in the States in spectacular fashion. For George, though, the day before was just as important. Rickenbacker boss Francis Hall brought the band some new gear to check out. George ended up with a fabulous gift of a prototype Rick 360/12 (and John got that gleaming new-look version of his 325, too).

George waited until the band returned home to use his new toy, and the studio debut of his chiming 360/12 can be heard on the lively take of You Can’t Do That, recorded on 25 February, his 21st birthday. He started to use the 12-string – described by Melody Maker as “the beat boys’ secret weapon” – all over live and studio Beatle performances.

During the band’s third US tour, in 1965, he received a 360/12 in Rickenbacker’s new rounded-body style. He began using it rather than his original, as on the session for If I Needed Someone for Rubber Soul, the last Beatles track with electric 12, and on stage into ’66.

George once compared the Rick 12’s sound to an organ or electric piano, which makes sense when you hear some of the sounds he got from it on A Hard Day’s Night, notably its most famous studio moment within the opening chord of the album’s title song. “That sound,” George said much later, “you just associate with those early 60s Beatle records. The Rickenbacker 12-string sound is a sound on its own.”

• Where Are They Now?

Olivia Harrison owns the original ’63 360/12, but the ’65 model was stolen and remains lost.

A Pair of Epiphone Thinlines

Early in 1965, John played some new recordings to a Melody Maker reporter at Abbey Road. Suddenly, he said, “Hey, listen! Hear that playing by Paul?” It was probably during playback of Ticket To Ride or Another Girl. “Paul’s been doing quite a bit of lead guitar work this week,” John explained. “I reckon he’s moving in.”

Not content with his bass work at the lower end of Beatle cuts, Paul was taking more interest in guitar playing – and remember, he’d started in the band as a guitarist. 

At the end of 1964, Paul bought himself an Epiphone Casino, restrung and played “upside down” to accommodate his left-handed style. Gibson had owned Epiphone since the late 50s, and the new-for-1961 Casino model was based on Gibson’s hollowbody ES-330.

The year after Paul’s purchase, John and George each bought a Casino, too, and they used them on the sessions for Revolver, as did Paul. Paul’s ’62 model had the black knobs and Gibson-style headstock of the period, while John and George’s ’65 models had gold knobs and the later ‘flared’ Epi head.

George’s came with a Bigsby, John’s with the regular trapeze tailpiece. John and George played their Casinos during most of the band’s final live dates in 1966, including the very last Beatles concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco that August.

Later, both guitarists had the sunburst finish stripped from their Casinos to reveal the natural wood. George said later he thought it improved the sound of his guitar.

• Where Are They Now?

Paul owns his ’62 Casino, Olivia Harrison owns George’s ’65 model, and Yoko Ono owns John’s ’65.

Rhythm Makers – The Beatle Basses

Stu Sutcliffe was the first bass player in The Beatles, using a ’59 Hofner 500/5, but he left the band in 1961, and soon Paul switched to bass. Paul bought his first bass guitar in Hamburg in 1961. It was a left-handed Hofner 500/1, a type known since as a Beatle Bass or, for its shape, as a violin bass.

That ’61 Hofner saw him through the band’s early days, but in 1963 he bought a replacement, using the lefty ’63 500/1 on stage and in the studio throughout the glory years of The Beatles. The pickups provide the main visual clues to tell the two Hofners apart: the pickups of the ’61 bass are close together at the neck, while the ’63 bass has the pickups spaced conventionally at the neck and bridge. 

Paul was another beneficiary of Rickenbacker’s generosity, receiving a lefty 4001S bass from the company on a US tour in 1965, and he used it on many Beatle records. 

Originally, it had a red Fireglo finish, but Paul gave it some colourful additions in 1967. Later, he stripped it back to natural wood and reshaped the top horn. Paul used another gift, a lefty Fender Jazz Bass, on some of the later Beatle sessions.

• Where Are They Now?

Paul owns the ’63 Hofner bass, the 4001S, and the Jazz Bass, but the ’61 Hofner was stolen in 1969, and Stu’s 500/5 is owned by the Hard Rock Cafe.

A Pair of Blue Strats

Rubber Soul had many Beatle fans wondering about the new sounds contained in its grooves. Take that concise solo in Nowhere Man, where two unison guitars give way to one solitary pinging harmonic. A new Beatle sound, for sure! The source? A pair of Fender Stratocasters freshly added to the band’s guitar store. George and John decided around the end of ’64 to get a Strat each.

The story goes that they sent out Beatles roadie Mal Evans to find them and he returned with two Strats in Fender’s pale Sonic Blue finish. They were often used in the studio, while John played his at least once at the band’s Christmas ’64 concerts. And during rehearsals in late ’65, John briefly used a Strat in black finish with matching headstock.

In 1967, The Beatles decided to paint a few of their instruments in psychedelia-inspired colour schemes. Paul decorated his Rickenbacker bass. John had his J-160E painted blue and lilac and sprayed the back of his Casino silver.

George, meanwhile, took some paint and nail varnish and transformed his Strat into a personalised psychedelic artwork. That summer, his newly daubed Fender was just about visible – in glorious black-and-white – as the band performed All You Need Is Love for the Our World global satellite broadcast.

His psych Strat was more colourfully displayed in the I Am The Walrus sequence from the band’s TV film shown that Christmas, Magical Mystery Tour, with its central character of a dayglo-painted charabanc. Later, maybe in a fit of post-trip good taste, Paul and John had the paint stripped off the coloured guitars, down to the natural wood, but George’s Strat stayed steadfastly psychedelic.

• Where Are They Now?

John’s 60s Strat hasn’t been seen since, but Olivia Harrison owns George’s ’61 ‘Rocky’ Strat.

Forever Fab – Other Beatle Guitars

The Beatles acquired a number of other guitars beyond their main instruments, and we’ll consider a selection here. Paul got a Fender Esquire in the first few months of 1967, which he used briefly in the studio, notably on his solo on Good Morning, Good Morning from Sgt Pepper’s. 

He’d also picked up an Epiphone Texan flat-top in ’64, mainly to use live for Yesterday, but also as a songwriting tool – and he landed another nice acoustic, a Martin D-28, in ’68.

A few guitars were used by the band collectively, including a Framus Hootenanny 5/024 flat-top 12-string, picked up around the start of ’65, and a Fender VI, given to the band by Fender along with several other bits of gear in 1968.

John got a Martin D-28 at the same time Paul got his, and he came by a Gretsch 6120 in 1965, which he was photographed using briefly at Abbey Road. In 1969, he played a Hofner Hawaiian Standard lap-steel for the slide part on For You Blue.

George borrowed a Gretsch Jet Fire Bird early in ’63 while his Duo Jet was being repaired, and that same year bought a Rickenbacker 425 in the States while visiting his sister and used it for a few performances.

Another temporary replacement in ’63 for a guitar undergoing repairs was a Maton MS500. George also acquired a couple of useful acoustics: a Ramírez Guitarra de Estudio classical that he used in ’64 for And I Love Her, and a Gibson J-200 that he bought in America in ’68.

• Where Are They Now?

Paul owns his Texan and his D-28. The 6120 John used briefly was sold privately in 2015 for $530,000. The 425 George used briefly was sold at auction in 2014 for $657,000, and the Maton he used was sold at auction in 2018 for £280,000. George gave his J-200 to Bob Dylan (as seen on the cover of Nashville Skyline). The Esquire, Hawaiian Standard, Hootenanny, Jet Fire Bird, Ramírez, VI, and John’s D-28 have since gone AWOL.

George the Guitar Fan

George got his first Gibson with humbuckers in 1965, a luscious ES-345 that he used while miming in promo videos for Day Tripper, Help!, I Feel Fine, Ticket To Ride, and We Can Work It Out. He played it that December on what turned out to be the band’s final British tour.

The following year, George got an SG Standard, used at Abbey Road when sessions began in April 1966 for Revolver and played at an NME concert in London in May, which marked The Beatles’ final British concert appearance. George also used his SG in more videos to promote the Paperback Writer/Rain single in ’66 and Lady Madonna in ’68.

In 1968, Eric Clapton gave a Les Paul to George. It was a ’57 Goldtop refinished in Cherry, and George named it Lucy and used it on several White Album and Abbey Road cuts [and above in the video for Revolution]. He let Eric play it once more for the solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, making Eric the only non-Beatle to play a guitar solo on a Beatles record.

George’s final new Beatle guitar was a prototype Fender Rosewood Telecaster, made by Roger Rossmeisl, a gift from Fender that arrived at the band’s London Apple HQ in late ’68. George played it for the Apple rooftop concert on 30 January 1969 – The Beatles’ last ever public performance, seen in their Let It Be film.

• Where Are They Now?

George gave his SG to Badfinger’s Pete Ham, whose brother sold it at auction in 2004 for $567,500, and his Rosewood Tele to Delaney Bramlett, who auctioned it in 2003 for $434,750. Both are owned now by Olivia Harrison, who also owns George’s Les Paul. The 345’s whereabouts are unknown.

As a musician, Paul McCartney is probably best known for his creative, melodic Beatles and Wings basslines. But he's always been a guitarist at heart.

The guitar was, after all, his first instrument (if you ignore the trumpet his father gave him for his 14th birthday), and it's always been his main songwriting tool.

And while George Harrison played the bulk of the Fab Four's lead electric guitar parts (especially in the band's early years), McCartney occasionally - and understandably - claimed the lead-guitar spotlight, as did rhythm guitarist John Lennon (and Cream's Eric Clapton, on one famous occasion).

On that note, here are McCartney's top six (yes, six) electric guitar solos as a member of the Beatles. Enjoy!

6. Back in the USSR - The Beatles, aka the White Album (1968)

By the White Album era, the days of the Beatles sticking to their traditional roles were very much over. In this case, McCartney wrote the song, sang it and played drums on it. Why not play lead guitar, too?

The solo, which follows the melody line, is simple but effective - and don't forget his fine, fast, alternate picking during the last verse.

5. Another Girl - Help! (1965)

This 'solo' is more of a collection of creative, bouncy fills and bends by McCartney - more than enough to make it obvious that he started out as a guitarist.

Check out this scene from Help!, below, where Harrison, playing Lennon's black Rickenbacker 325, mimes McCartney's lead parts while McCartney plays bass.

4. Tomorrow Never Knows - Revolver (1966)

"People tend to credit John with the backwards recordings, the loops and the weird sound effects, but the tape loops were my thing," McCartney says in Barry Miles' Many Years From Now. "The only thing I ever used them on was Tomorrow Never Knows. It was nice for this to leak into the Beatle stuff as it did.

"We ran the loops and then we ran the track of Tomorrow Never Knows and we played the faders, and just before you could tell it was a loop, before it began to repeat a lot, I'd pull in one of the other faders, and so, using the other people - 'You pull that in there,' 'You pull that in' - we did a half random, half orchestrated playing of the things and recorded that to a track on the actual master tape, so that if we got a good one, that would be the solo. 

"We played it through a few times and changed some of the tapes till we got what we thought was a real good one. I think it is a great solo."

Rumor has it that McCartney's Tomorrow Never Knows guitar parts are actually transplants from Taxman.

3. The End - Abbey Road (1969)

The extended guitar jam on The End, the Abbey Road finale (unless you count Her Majesty), also could make the list of the best Beatles guitar solos by Harrison and/or Lennon, since all three guitarists take turns soloing for two bars each.

McCartney starts it off, followed by Harrison, followed by Lennon - around and around until 'the end.' And speaking of solos, it's also the only Beatles song to include a Ringo Starr drum solo.

2. Good Morning Good Morning - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Young, guitar-playing Beatles fans are often disappointed when they find out Harrison didn't play this very 1967-sounding, brash, psychedelic, distorted, raga-inspired gem of a guitar solo from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was, in fact, played by McCartney.

1. Taxman - Revolver (1966)

On what is clearly one of the most powerful guitar solos to be found on a Beatles song, McCartney channels a bit of Jeff Beck (with descending pull-offs a la Shapes of Things) and gives a nod to Harrison's current, Indian-inspired frame of mind.

"I was pleased to have Paul play that bit on Taxman," Harrison said in 1987. "If you notice, he did like a little Indian bit on it for me."

If “1970 in Beatles history” conjures mental images of a miserable-looking John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sitting around playing The Long and Winding Road in a dark, depressing studio, you’re missing out, my friends.

First of all, all those long faces seen in the band’s 1970 film, Let It Be, were filmed in early 1969. During the bulk of ’70, all four Beatles were diving head first into their brand-new solo careers, and it was an exciting, fun time for all involved - fans included. That energy comes through in the dynamic guitar work of all three Beatles guitarists on their debut solo albums - and let’s not forget that Ringo was hangin’ with some serious pickers himself. 

Here are nine studio albums that explain exactly what John, Paul, George and Ringo (and his guitarists) were up to in that crazy year we call 1970. The albums are organized by release date. Enjoy!

For more on what exactly happened to the Fab Four in 1970, read our exhaustive feature on the inside story of The Beatles' turbulent break-up - and what came next.

1. Ringo Star - Sentimental Journey

Release date: March 27

Ringo kicked off 1970 with a covers album packed with the kind of songs his mother should know - standards like Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, Bye Bye Blackbird and Stardust, which was arranged by Paul McCartney. 

While there’s not a lot of guitar to speak of (and not a hint of irony), there is the mesmerizing solo break on the title track. Although it’s buried in the mix, it sounds like an electric guitar played through a talk box and wah. Hell, it might even be a pedal steel guitar through a talk box, a la Pete Drake’s Forever. Oddly enough, Drake turns up later in our story.

2. Paul McCartney - McCartney

Release date: April 17

McCartney plays every instrument on his post-Beatles, pre-Wings solo debut, including, of course, every ounce of guitar. And there’s gallons of guitar here - including his electrifying Maybe I’m Amazed solos (which feature one of his favorite soloing techniques, the pre-bend and release) and laid-back country pickin’ on Man We Was Lonely. 

There’s also a surprisingly healthy offering of guitar-centric instrumentals, including Valentine Day, Singalong Junk, Hot As Sun and Momma Miss America. Even his "Hey, listen to me play the drums!" tune, Kreen-Akrore, ends with some tasty pentatonic licks that set the tone - literally and figuratively - for 1971’s majestic Too Many People.

3. The Beatles - Let It Be

Release date: May 8

Although it was mostly recorded in early 1969, months before Abbey Road was recorded, Let It Be features at least one bona-fide 1970 recording, namely I Me Mine, which George Harrison, McCartney and Starr tackled in early January. 

The same three guys wouldn’t work together - in the same room, that is - until the mid '90s, when they added their respective parts to John Lennon’s Free As a Bird and Real Love, thus creating two new top-10 Beatles songs in an era dominated by Alanis Morissette and the Smashing Pumpkins. 

Guitar highlights include Harrison’s stinging Let It Be and One After 909 solos - the former played on his “Lucy” Les Paul and the latter on his rosewood Telecaster - and Lennon’s fun For You Blue lap-steel rave-up. Lennon also puts his all into the P-90-powered solos, riffs and fills on Get Back.

4 & 5. Doris Troy - Doris Troy and Billy Preston - Encouraging Words

Both released: September 11

Harrison - who was a very busy Beatle in late ’69 and early ’70 - co-produced and played on these two Apple Records releases, which were released the very same day. He even assembled the studio bands and co-wrote songs on both discs. 

While Doris Troy mostly spotlights Eric Clapton’s fretwork, Encouraging Words features what is probably Harrison’s most Beatles-esque non-Beatles guitar riff: on Sing One For The Lord, which he wrote with Billy Preston, note how George and his Leslie-fortified Strat smoothly navigate the arpeggiated open chord changes C - G - A7 - Baug during what may be considered the song’s pre-chorus or bridge section, as he lets his open G string ring out for the entire ride, creating a rich-sounding common tone among all four chords. 

By the way, Clapton and Starr play on both albums.

6. Ringo Starr - Beaucoups of Blues

Release date: September 25

In late June, the Beatle went down to Nashville to record a country album with Charlie Daniels, Jerry Reed, The Jordanaires and pedal steel guitar legend (and Beaucoups of Blues producer) Pete Drake, who he met in May while working on Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. 

Honestly, no one seems to know who played exactly what on exactly which song - since there were so many Nashville session aces involved - but there’s no mistaking Reed’s trademark nylon-string wizardry on the super-engaging $15 Draw, which GW once named the greatest guitar moment on a Ringo Starr solo recording. 

“The solo has a precisely articulated staccato quality,” says GW senior music editor Jimmy Brown. “It sounds alternate picked, which is kind of an unusual thing to do with a thumbpick, but doable if you’re Reed, although he may have also brought his pick-hand fingers into play, in an alternating manner with the thumbpick. It’s also possible that he used a flatpick for this solo.”

7. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

Release date: November 27

This triple-disc was - and still is - Harrison’s finest hour (and 45 minutes). The guitarist, a junior songwriting partner to Lennon and McCartney for nearly a decade, finally emerged from their colossal shadows with a masterpiece packed with dreamy textures, intelligent lyrics, soaring melodies, hit singles - and guitars, guitars, guitars. 

During Harrison’s My Sweet Lord solo, the one that starts at 2:47, his intonation and muting tidiness (super important when playing slide in standard tuning) are impeccable. Reprising his intro lick a whole step higher, now in F# and with a brighter, bridge-pickup tone, he outlines his chord progression with a bold, slippery melody based on major, minor and diminished-seven arpeggios, the latter harmonized in thirds below the melody via an overdubbed second lead guitar. 

Harrison shared the lead-guitar spotlight with Clapton, who can be heard on Art of Dying, I’d Have You Anytime and a goodly portion of the Apple Jam (AKA disc 3). 

Meanwhile, Drake steals the show on Behind that Locked Door and a glorious outtake called I Live for You. The album also features Dave Mason, Peter Frampton, Badfinger, Derek and the Dominos and - you guessed it - Ringo.

8 & 9. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - Yoko Ono

Both released: December 11

John and Yoko ended the year with a one-two punch of rough-around-the-edges albums recorded at the same time with the same band; Lennon is the only guitarist in the vicinity and Ringo is the drummer (Of course he is! He appears on eight of the nine albums on this list). 

For Lennon’s most avant-garde guitar playing, look no further than Why and Touch Me from the Yoko disc; for a continuation of Lennon’s “I’m gonna sing along with these pentatonic licks as I play them on my guitar” approach heard on Abbey Road’s I Want You (She’s So Heavy), check out Well Well Well and I Found Out from the John disc. 

Perhaps coolest of all, however, is the acoustic gem Look at Me, which sounds like a younger sister to Julia, the White Album tune. As he does on Julia, Lennon employs clawhammer picking, which is similar to Travis picking (named after country guitar legend Merle Travis). 

The difference is in the alternating bass pattern, played by the thumb. With clawhammer, the thumbpicking pattern goes 5-4-6-4 (in terms of strings). In Travis picking, the thumb goes 6-4-5-4. 

By the way, we should also mention that Lennon actually kicked off 1970 with a hit single - Instant Karma! - which he recorded January 27 and released February 6. The tune, which reached Number 3 on the Billboard singles chart in the US, features input from Harrison, who also played on Lennon’s Imagine album in 1971.

While the Beatles spent the first months of 1969 getting back to their roots with the Let It Be sessions, EMI's Abbey Road Studios was moving headlong into the future.

On November 23, 1968, Studio Two's control room had been outfitted with EMI's new TG12345 mixer, the first transistorized recording console in Abbey Road. The studio's old tube mixers were on their way out, their limited channels and features rendering them obsolete for eight-track recording, which had become standard. Ironically, EMI had been developing the new console since before the Beatles' arrival in the early Sixties.

Now it was finished, just in time for what would be the group's last album. There was just one problem: the solid-state console sounded nothing like the valve console, which is why Abbey Road - recorded largely in the facility's famed Studio Two - sounds nothing like the Beatles' previous albums. The new mixer produced smoother tones; the transistors prevented low-end distortion from passing through, unlike tubes, which can be overdriven to distort signals in musically desirable ways.

"I had trouble getting the same kind of sounds they were used to," says Geoff Emerick, who had come aboard as an engineer for Abbey Road after departing the Beatles during the acrimonious White Album sessions in 1968. "So there were a lot of long faces for the first few days. But there was no way the old mixing console could be brought in, so we went along with it."

Once Emerick and the Beatles adjusted to the new sound, however, the results were simply stunning. Emerick says, "The new recording console, that specific one, gave the original rhythm tracks a certain texture that wasn't as aggressive and upfront and hard as the tube desk would have given us. "And that sound was well suited to a lot of the songs they brought in for the album. In addition, because the original rhythm tracks were sort of more subdued, the overdubs were a little softer and less harsh as well. Everything sat together a little easier in the mix."

The new console's low-end clarity produced more distinct bass tones, capturing the supple tones of McCartney's bass without turning the bottom end of the frequency spectrum into mush. The benefits for McCartney are most evident on I Want You (She's So Heavy) and especially on Something, where his bass lines move in smooth counterpoint to Harrison's vocal, shadowing, rather than competing with or overpowering them.

Like the console, the eight-track recording deck installed in the studio opened up all sorts of new creative possibilities for Emerick. (Though the Beatles had been recording to eight-track since the previous September, Emerick had not worked with them since the previous July.)

"It gave me a great deal more flexibility with positioning things in the mix," he says. "For the first time I could record drums in stereo and spread the instruments out properly." There is, at best, a fine line dividing the sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road. Following the sessions for the former, McCartney was eager to cut a new album, but the others were not.

The first Abbey Road session work took place on February 22 and 23, 1969, when Lennon's I Want You (She's So Heavy) was begun at Trident Studios with Glyn Johns (who would work with the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin) engineering. (Trident was chosen because the Beatles' own Apple Studios had no mixing console, and possibly because Abbey Road was booked.)

The group didn't reconvene again until April 16, at Abbey Road's Studio Three, when they recorded Harrison's Old Brown Shoe (released as the B-side to The Ballad of John and Yoko, a track cut entirely by Lennon and McCartney in Studio Three on April 14) and an abandoned version of Harrison's Abbey Road track Something.

Two days later, Lennon and Harrison went into Studio Two and recorded their multi-tracked guitars onto the outro of I Want You (She's So Heavy). "They wanted a massive sound, so they kept tracking and tracking, over and over," Jeff Jarratt, an engineer for the session, recalls.

The Beatles continued working sporadically, and without direction, through May. No sessions took place in June, and work on the album did not begin in earnest until July. Ironically, as the Beatles were coming apart, Harrison was coming into his own as a songwriter and guitarist. His Abbey Road contributions, Something and Here Comes the Sun, are among his finest, and his guitar playing, particularly his slide work, is masterful.

Harrison's mellifluous lead lines were more expressive than anything he'd done before, demonstrating his newfound confidence and connection with his instrument and creative muse. To enhance those liquid tones, Harrison used a Leslie rotary speaker cabinet, which, together, with his slide work, formed the basis of his new signature sound.

Emerick says, "George really came into his own on Abbey Road. For the first time he was speaking out and doing exactly what he wanted to do. And of course he wrote these beautiful songs and we got a great new guitar sound." Unfortunately, it's hard to know precisely what guitars, basses and amps were used on Abbey Road.

Few photos were taken at the sessions, and even Emerick can't remember what was played. "I was too busy setting up mics and getting sounds to notice," he says. Considering the short amount of time between the Get Back sessions and Abbey Road, it's likely that the group used the same gear. That would include Lennon's Epiphone Casino and Martin D-28; Harrison's Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat and Fender Rosewood Telecaster; and McCartney's 1963 Hofner bass, Rickenbacker 4001S, Martin D-28 and Epiphone Casino.

A Fender VI and Jazz Bass were reportedly used on the sessions as well. Amps likely included silverface Fender Twin Reverbs and a Bassman, and certainly Harrison's Leslie 147RV cabinet. In addition, there was one new piece of gear at the sessions: George Harrison's Moog synthesizer. "We used it for the first time on Because to create that French horn sound on the song - which was absolutely amazing for that time."

The Moog was also used for the playful solo on McCartney's Maxwell's Silver Hammer, as a shimmering texture on Here Comes the Sun and as a complement to McCartney's bass guitar on Mean Mr. Mustard. It also provided the wash of white noise that almost drowns out the music on the coda to I Want You (She's So Heavy).

The Moog provided what was perhaps the sole technological innovation on Abbey Road. During the solo for Octopus's Garden, the Beatles can be heard singing harmonies as if they were underwater. The bubbling effect on their vocals was created by running the track through a compressor triggered by a pulsing signal from the Moog's low-frequency oscillator. "It made a wobbling, gargling sort of sound that was just perfect for what we wanted to achieve," Emerick says.

By any account, Lennon's interest in the sessions was cursory. On July 1, he and Yoko had been in a car accident while on vacation. Although he was virtually unscathed, Yoko had been injured and in the course of treatment the couple learned that she was pregnant. Afraid to leave his wife alone, Lennon had a bed brought into the studio so that he could be near her.

Though his bandmates attempted a show of tolerance in the face of the intrusion, Lennon was often ill-tempered toward them and made his displeasure with the sessions evident. He was particularly unhappy with McCartney's plan for the 16-minute medley that extends from track nine, You Never Give Me Your Money, to track 16, The End.

"Oh, John hated the medley," Emerick says. "He was totally against it," though he came around after McCartney asked him to contribute some songs to it. Lennon responded with a trio of compositions: the gentle Sun King, the bluesy Mean Mr. Mustard and the all-out rocker Polythene Pam. Despite Lennon's protests about the medley, by all accounts he enjoyed recording the sequenced guitar solos that bring The End to its climax.

That session took place on August 7 in Studio Three.

"Paul went first, then George, then John, and they repeated the sequence in that way twice," Emerick explains. "Originally they couldn't decide if John or George would play it. Eventually they said, 'Well let's have the three of us do it.' Hearing that performance was unbelievable. And it was all done live and in one take. When they were finished, everyone beamed. I think in their minds they went back to their youth and all those great memories of working together as a band. Suddenly there was just this great vibe in the studio. It was just superb."

ABBEY ROAD: EXTRA FACTS

Recorded: February 22 to August 20, 1969

Location: Abbey Road, Olympic and Trident

Released: September 26, 1969 (Apple)

TRACK LISTING

Come Together | Something | Maxwell's Silver Hammer | Oh! Darling | Octopus's Garden | I Want You (She's So Heavy) | Here Comes the Sun | Because | You Never Give Me Your Money | Sun King | Mean Mr. Mustard | Polythene Pam | She Came in Through the Bathroom Window | Golden Slumbers | Carry That Weight | The End | Her Majesty

RELATED SINGLES

• The Ballad of John and Yoko / Old Brown Shoe, May 30, 1969 (Apple)

• Something / Come Together October 31, 1969 (Apple)

TG12345 MIXER

The TG12345 was the first solid-state recording console installed in Abbey Road. EMI took delivery of the mixer in 1968, placing it in Studio Two, where it was used on Abbey Road, the first and only Beatles album to be recorded with it. All their previous recordings had utilized the tube-driven REDD.37 and REDD.51 mixers. According to Geoff Emerick, the TG12345 is the reason Abbey Road sounds so distinctly different from every other Beatles album.

From the acoustic jangle of their debut single Love Me Do, to the soul-searching deep cuts of The White Album, the acoustic guitar was a mainstay in the Beatles' work.

Here, we spotlight 10 of the many standout acoustic moments crafted by the Fab Four.

1. Blackbird

The Beatles’ 1968 spiritual retreat to India became a prolific songwriting period for the group, who later that year recorded their self-titled double-album or as we know it now, The White Album.

The LP includes the McCartney standout Blackbird, written during the India trip. Performed on his Martin D-28, the song centers on a memorable fingerpicked pattern, originally inspired by a Bach piece.

2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

One of the Beatles’ most memorable acoustic guitar motifs, Rubber Soul's Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) includes sitar tracked by Harrison, who at the time had no formal training on the instrument. Along with Lennon's surreal lyrics, it marked a step forward in the band's songwriting development. 

3. Julia

One of Lennon's most personal songs, Julia is an acoustic ode to his mother. Featured on The White Album, the song employs a fingerpicking pattern taught to him and McCartney by the folk singer Donovan during the band's India trip. 

4. Here Comes the Sun 

While the band quarreled over business affairs, Harrison distracted himself by writing this gem. With a universally uplifting message, it’s no surprise that Here Comes the Sun is currently the band's most streamed song on Spotify. 

5. Michelle

In his book Many Years From Now, Macca explains, “Michelle was a tune that I’d written in Chet Atkins’ fingerpickin’ style. There is a song he did called Trambone with a repetitive top line, and he played a bass line whilst playing a melody.

“This was an innovation for us; even though classical guitarists had played it, no rock ‘n’ roll guitarists had played it."

6. I'm Only Sleeping

This Revolver track is celebrated for being the first pop recording with a backwards guitar solo. With Lennon's whimsical musings on his own laziness, it's also one of the best acoustic-driven songs on the album.

7. And I Love Her

This A Hard Day's Night track is anchored by Harrison's four-note repeating riff played on the classical guitar. The guitarists' simple yet brilliant playing - along with Ringo's subtle bongos and claves - gives a distinctive Latin-flavor to the song.

8. Dear Prudence

Another White Album track with origins in India, Lennon's Dear Prudence once again utilizes the fingerpicking technique taught to him by Donovan. The song - which includes drumming by McCartney - is written for Prudence Farrow, who had secluded herself for days during the meditation retreat.

9. Till There Was You

A cover of a Meredith Willson number from the The Music Man, this Meet The Beatles! cut showcases a sweetly-sung lead vocal from McCartney. But the song makes this list thanks to a 20-year-old George Harrison's perfectly played classical guitar solo. 

10. Yesterday

One of the most covered songs in the history of popular music, Yesterday was also the first Beatle recording to feature just one member.

Written and performed by McCartney, the melody came to him in a dream, which led him to believe he had mistakenly plagiarized it. The song wasn’t recorded until his band mates assured him that it was indeed his own work. 

Despite the success of the John Lennon/George Harrison pairing on Lennon's 1971 Imagine album, the two former Beatles never recorded together again — except for one other time. 

On March 13, 1973, Lennon, Harrison and Ringo Starr recorded “I’m the Greatest” — a song Lennon started writing in late 1970 but eventually handed off to Starr — at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. The song, the opening track on Starr’s hit 1973 album, Ringo, also features “Fifth Beatle” Billy Preston on electric piano, making it tantalizingly close to a "just before the breakup"-era Beatles song. Preston played on the Beatles’ final albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be, and even performed with the band at their January 30, 1969, rooftop show. Instead of Paul McCartney, however, "I'm the Greatest" features Beatle buddy Klaus Voormann on bass. Paul appears elsewhere on Ringo, making it the only solo-Beatles studio album to feature John, Paul, George and Ringo. 

"I'm the Greatest" also features a clever Beatles reference in the lyrics. At 1:44, Ringo sings, Yes, my name is Billy Shears / You know it has been for so many years. Billy Shears was Ringo's alter ego on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, as heard at the moment that album's title track segues into "With a Little Help from My Friends," which Ringo sings.

You can check out "I'm the Greatest" below.

The March 13, 1973, basic-tracks session marked the first time Lennon, Harrison and Starr had recorded together since the Beatles' breakup. Actually, only Starr and Lennon were expected to turn up at the studio that day. When Harrison — who just happened to be in Los Angeles that day — got wind of the session, he called Starr's producer, Richard Perry, to ask if he could join the gang. Lennon reportedly replied, "Hell yes ... Tell him to get down here right away and help me finish this bridge."

We don't know if Harrison actually contributed lyrics to the tune, but he definitely turned in a catchy, shimmering Beatles-esque guitar phrase (first heard at the 0:15 mark) that sounds like it was flown in from the Abbey Road sessions.

When the press got wind of the "I'm the Greatest" session and personnel, they thought it signaled the arrival of a new “Beatles replacement” band called the Ladders. Sadly, it didn’t, and this combo was never heard from again. 

If you can handle a few more near-Beatles experiences, be sure to check out “Sour Milk Sea,” a Harrison-penned Jackie Lomax single from 1968 that features Harrison, McCartney and Starr, plus Eric Clapton and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins (both of whom played on Beatles recordings that year). "All Those Years Ago" — a 1981 Harrison track written in honor of Lennon, who had been killed the previous December — features Harrison (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Starr (drums) and McCartney (backing vocals).

But probably the closest thing to a Beatles reunion took place in the mid Nineties, when McCartney, Harrison and Starr added their respective parts to two unfinished Lennon recordings, "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love." You can read more about that here.

Paul McCartney welcomed a few very special guests to the stage at his show at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday, December 16.

Prior to performing the Beatles classic, “Get Back,” he informed the crowd he had a little “surprise” for them.

“First of all, I’d like to introduce the fantastic member of the Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood!,” McCartney said.

After Wood came out to massive applause, McCartney said to him: “And I believe we’ve got someone else here…the ever-fantastic Mr. Ringo Starr!”

With the former Beatles drummer situated behind the kit, McCartney then joked, “I think we might as well do a song together.”

You can check out footage of the three British rock legends performing “Get Back” above.

In honor of George Harrison's 75th birthday on February 25, the eight-time platinum Concert for George will be available for the first time on vinyl, as a 4-LP box set and a Limited Edition Deluxe 10-disc box set via Concord Music.

"We will always celebrate George's birthday, and this year we are releasing Concert for George in a very special package in memory of a special man," said Olivia Harrison, George's widow, in a press release.

The concert, which took place November 29, 2002, at London's Royal Albert Hall, was organized by Olivia Harrison and George's longtime friend, Eric Clapton. The show, which was captured on film by director David Leland, featured an all-star lineup of guests, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Clapton, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Jeff Lynne, Joe Brown and Ravi Shankar.

The new deluxe box set of the concert is limited to 1,000 pieces worldwide and features the complete sound and film recordings (on 4 180-gram LPs, 2 CDs, 2 DVDs and 2 Blu-rays), a 12"x12" hard-bound 60-page book, plus an opportunity to own a piece of the historic event, by way of a cutting from the original hand-painted on-stage tapestry used as the backdrop at the Albert Hall that night.

The package is housed in a gold-colored, fabric-wrapped box with a die-cut mandala window to display the unique stage fabric, and includes a note from Olivia, explaining the story behind the tapestry.

The 4-LP box set includes the complete sound recordings from Concert for George on 180-gram vinyl, featuring a special, mandala-design etched on Side 8. This is the first time all the songs from the performance have been available on an audio configuration. The album also will be made newly available via streaming platforms, with a track listing mirroring that of the vinyl.

In addition to the vinyl formats, the release will be presented as a 2-CD set, as well as newly issued 2-CD + 2-DVD, and 2-CD + 2-Blu-ray combo packages. The 2-CD set features sound recordings from the concert. The 2-disc DVD and Blu-ray sets also include the complete filmed concert on the first disc, with a second disc containing the original theatrical version featuring concert highlights, interviews with the performers, rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage. Exclusive to the Blu-ray format, the second disc includes an interview segment featuring Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner and Ray Cooper, entitled "Drummers."

The Deluxe Box Set is available for pre-order exclusively from concertforgeorge.com. The 4-LP Box Set can be pre-ordered here, while the 2-CD Box Set can be pre-ordered here.

On June 23, 1994, surviving Beatles Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr gathered at Harrison's house—better known as Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, England—to shoot some extra footage for their new project, The Beatles Anthology.

In case you don't remember, Anthology was a hugely successful documentary TV series (now available on DVD), a three-volume set of double albums and a massive coffee-table book that focused on the long and winding road that was the Beatles' incredible career.

According to some sources, Paul, George and Ringo were originally supposed to perform the Beatles' "Let It Be" that day, and the resulting footage would've closed out the series. However, the late John Lennon's absence was apparently so overwhelming and upsetting that, after an unusually long discussion in George's garden, the three former Beatles decided to simply head to George's home studio and casually run through a few old songs—tunes that dated back to the Beatles' earliest days as a band.

In the video below, you can watch Paul, George and Ringo—"It was just two acoustic guitars and me on brushes," Ringo confirmed—play bits of "Raunchy" (0:01), "Thinking of Linking"(1:41) and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (2:27).

At 3:30, the action moves outside to the aforementioned garden, where Paul and George are playing a pair of George's ukuleles as Ringo looks on (they really should've given him some bongos). At this point, they play Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me to Do"(3:30) and "Ain't She Sweet" (5:15), the old Tin Pan Alley standard.

"Raunchy" holds a special place in Beatles history. In 1958, a 14-year-old George performed the song—a guitar instrumental by Bill Justis—for John and Paul on the top deck of a bus; it apparently was so note-perfect that John decided to let him into his band, the Quarrymen, which became the Beatles, despite reservations about George's age.

McCartney wrote "Thinking of Linking" when he was about 16. "'Thinking of Linking' was terrible," he said in 1988. "I thought it up in the pictures; someone in a film mentioned it—'we're thinking of linking'—and I came out of there thinking, 'That should be a song. Thinking of linking, people are gonna get married, gotta write that!'"

The Beatles were familiar with Elvis Presley's 1954 version of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (McCartney also performed it on MTV Unplugged in 1991), and—as any little schoolboy knows—the Beatles covered "Ain't She Sweet" (with Pete Best on drums) in 1961 and ran through it a few times in 1969 during the Let It Be sessions. Although no footage exists, the June 23, 1994, session also included run-throughs of "Love Me Do," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Roll Over Beethoven," "I Will" and "Dehra Dune," a song George recorded at Trident Studios in 1969.

"It was just like a time-warp kind of thing," said producer Jeff Lynne. "We played some old rock-and-roll stuff, a couple of Chuck Berry [songs]—even 'I Saw Her Standing There'."

To see additional footage of McCartney, Harrison and Starr recording an official Beatles studio track in February 1995 at the Mill Studio in Sussex, watch the "Real Love" music video at the bottom of this story. "Real Love," which was released in 1996 on Anthology 2 (and remixed in 2015), is one of two unfinished Lennon songs that McCartney, Harrison and Starr completed with Lynne at the helm. The other one is "Free As a Bird," which was released on 1995's Anthology 1. It, too, was remixed in 2015.

“It was tricky, but I think we’ve pulled it off,” Lynne said.

A historic 1963 Martin that Bob Dylan played for over a decade—including his full set at George Harrison's legendary Concert for Bangladesh in 1971—has sold at auction for $396,000.

The auction for the guitar was held by Heritage Auctions, and took place on November 11 in Dallas. It was only the second known Dylan guitar to ever go to auction. The winning bidder requested to remain anonymous.

Dylan sold the guitar to his longtime guitar repairman, Larry Cragg, in 1977. Cragg has kept the guitar in a humidity-controlled environment, with loosened strings, ever since.

You can

watch a video of Dylan playing the guitar in question below.

Gary Clark Jr. has released the music video for his heavy, appropriately bluesy version of The Beatles' "Come Together."

The song—Clark's contribution to the soundtrack of the upcoming DC/Warner Bros. film, Justice League—was produced by Junkie XL, Mike Elizondo and Sam de Jong and recorded at The Village Recorders in Los Angeles.

You can see the action-packed video for yourself below.

Speaking to Guitar World back in May about his evolution in the studio, Clark said "I’m getting more comfortable in that environment. I’m beginning to enjoy the process of having an idea and letting it develop and evolve organically."

"I’ve really started acquiring the strength to follow my own instincts, rather than being persuaded or tempted to listen to outside opinions," he continued. "I’m more confident and less prone to go down that rabbit hole of darkness and doubt, which has happened to me multiple times."

Fabulous Thunderbirds cofounder Jimmie Vaughan released a new live album on October 20, and it's worth mentioning for a few reasons.

First of all, I—a self-declared Vaughan brothers geek (not to mention an editor at a guitar magazine)—didn't even know about it until a photo of the album cover turned up on my Instagram feed the day it was released. Second, it's the first full-length release by the Jimmie Vaughan Trio, which stars the mighty Mike Flanigin on Hammond B3 organ and Frosty Smith on drums. Third, it features some of Vaughan's finest guitar playing in years.

In fact, the level of musicianship is top-notch all around, from Flanigin's magnetic Baby Face Willette-style Hammond magic to Smith's thunderous drumming to Vaughan's steady-as-a-rock rhythm and lead playing.

The album, Live at C-Boy's (Proper Records), was recorded at C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, an atmospheric club on South Congress Street in Austin, Jimmie's hometown. Both the album and the venue are dripping with late-night-club mojo.

Its eight mostly instrumental songs are reminders of Vaughan's built-in ability to play in the pocket, to maintain the steady pace in a potentially all-over-the-place setting. (I'm reminded of the time my band tried to record "Robbin' Me Blind," a shuffle from 2001's Do You Get the Blues? It was a sloppy affair.)

Jimmie's son, the Fender Strat-wielding Tyrone Vaughan, underscored this during a recent Guitar World interview: "Jimmie showed me how to shuffle on guitar and to be steady," he said. "He also said to have a beginning, a middle and an end to your solos."

Jimmie's six-string approach is angular, raw, uncluttered and heart-felt; most importantly, it sounds as though it's straight into the amp—free of effects—which serves the album's stripped-down arrangements.

Jimmie is the Ringo Starr of blues guitar: not too flashy but super steady and blessed with an incredibly distinctive, often-imitated style. It doesn't hurt that there are two (purely accidental) Ringo tie-ins on the album—covers of the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" and Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby," which Starr recorded in 1976.

"Can't Buy Me Love" and the rollicking opener, the aptly titled "You Can't Sit Down" (a 1963 hit for the Dovells), find Vaughan handily filling in the bass-guitar-free gaps in an upbeat, jazzy setting. Of course, there's plenty of blues to go around; Vaughan shines on "Dirty Work at the Crossroads," "Frame for the Blues" and the swanky "Cleo's Mood," a Junior Walker tune that reads like a minor-key version of Slim Harpo's "Scratch My Back" (which Vaughan recorded with the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1979).

The spine-tingling "Saint James Infirmary" and a tight cover of Smokey Smothers' "Come On Rock Little Girl" round out the proceedings.

Live at C-Boy's is available via Amazon and iTunes.

P.S.: For a taste of how this setup sounds in a studio setting, check out "All Nite Long" (below), a track from Flanigin's latest album, 2015's The Drifter. It features Vaughan on vocals and guitar.

Damian Fanelli | damian@guitarworld.com | @damianfanelligw

A rare, unreleased demo of The Beatles' "What Goes On"—recorded in 1963 and featuring John Lennon on vocals—has surfaced on on eBay through Parlogram.

Though the song would not be released by The Fab Four until 1965's Rubber Soul, the song actually predates The Beatles. Lennon originally wrote the song all the way back in the late Fifties, for his pre-Beatles group the Quarrymen.

Lennon kept the song around, and—according to Parlogram—even considered recording it with the group as a follow-up to their breakthrough hit, "Please, Please Me," before dropping it in favor of the single's eventual follow-up, "From Me to You."

The song continued to kick around though, and the band eventually recorded it for Rubber Soul with rewritten verses, a solo from George Harrison, and Starr on lead vocals.

The demo—which is currently up for auction—features Lennon on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, with Paul McCartney providing harmonies. You can hear a snippet of it—recorded directly from the acetate—below.

For more information on the demo, you can examine the listing for yourself here.

Sometime in early 1968, when the Beatles' George Harrison invited Cream's Eric Clapton to play guitar on a tune—a psychedelic instrumental rocker that would wind up on Harrison's Wonderwall Music album—a great classic-rock tradition was born.

For the next five decades—or at least through 2013—Clapton and his guitar would wind up in recording studios with the Beatles. And, of course, by "the Beatles," we mean the actual band and/or any of its four members.

As we've noted before, Clapton is the only guitarist—ever—to play on a Beatles song and on official studio recordings by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Last year, we spotlighted 11 studio tracks recorded between 1968 and 1970 that pair Clapton with at least one Beatle—and occasionally three or more Beatles ("Sour Milk Sea" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"). That was, in fact, the golden era of Clapton/Beatles collaborations.

Today, we're picking up where we left off—covering the rest of the Seventies, heading into the Eighties (skipping the Nineties) and entering the 21st century.

Note that this is not a guide to every recorded Clapton-Beatle collaboration during this period, just 13 highlights. Be sure to check out whereseric.com for a list of Clapton's session work. Also note that this story doesn't include live performances, such as the Prince's Trust Rock Gala in 1987, the Concert for George in 2002 and so on. Enjoy!

P.S.: Before you get started, you might want to revisit our 1968-to-1970 list. Or not.

THIS BE CALLED A SONG | Ringo Starr | 1976
Eric and Ringo

Ringo's 1976 solo album, Ringo's Rotogravure, is a fun, laid-back, star-studded affair. The disc features appearances by John Lennon (who contributed a song), Paul and Linda McCartney (who also contributed a song), Peter Frampton, Harry Nilsson, Melissa Manchester, pedal steel guitar master Sneaky Pete Kleinow and—you guessed it—Eric Clapton. In fact, Clapton even wrote a song for Ringo, and you can hear it below.

As expected for the time, Clapton is employing his classic mid-Seventies straight-into-the-amp Strat tone. P.S.: Ringo's Rotogravure also features a Harrison composition, but Harrison doesn't appear on the song or the album.

LOVE COMES TO EVERYONE | George Harrison | 1979
Eric and George

Clapton plays guitar on the intro to this catchy Harrison album track. Clapton would eventually record his own version of this song on his 2005 album, Back Home.For more about that, head here.

EVERYBODY'S IN A HURRY BUT ME | Ringo Starr | 1983
Eric and Ringo

It's a shame this song isn't available on YouTube (trust me, it's not available on YouTube), because it's actually kind of interesting—at least in terms of its personnel. Besides Starr on drums and Clapton and Joe Walsh on guitars, this almost-instrumental tune features the Who's John Entwistle on bass. Imagine how "important" this song would've been if it were recorded in 1968; it would've combined members the Beatles, Cream and the Who (and Joe Walsh!)—all on one weird recording.

FREEDOM | Billy Connolly | 1985
Eric, George and Ringo

Speaking of weird, here's a scene from an obscure 1985 film called Water. The story is set in the fictional Caribbean island and British colony of Cascara. Widely ignored by the British Government, media and general public, local Governor Baxter Thwaites is having an easy life in his small and peaceful... blah, blah, blah—who cares?

The film is semi-interesting because of only one scene—the moment when Scottish comedian Billy Connolly fronts a band that features Starr on drums and Harrison and Clapton on guitars. Truth be told, we don't know if Starr and Harrison actually appear on the recording—and online details are so sketchy that we might not be finding out any time soon. Hey, if we ever run into Starr, Clapton or Connolly (which happens all the time), we'll be sure to ask.

CLOUD 9 | George Harrison | 1987
Eric and George

Much to the delight of his patient and devoted fans, Harrison released one of his best albums—Cloud Nine—in late 1987; seriously, it's right up there with 1970's All Things Must Pass. Interestingly enough, both albums feature some wonderful guitar work by Clapton (not to mention fine drumming by Starr).

Although Clapton can be heard on four stellar Cloud Nine tracks, we'll offer up this one—the title track—which features guitar solos by Clapton and Harrison, who, of course, plays slide. In case anyone out there (beisdes me) is concerned about grammar and style, the song title uses a "9" while the album title uses a "Nine." Go figure.

DEVIL'S RADIO | George Harrison | 1987
Eric, George and Ringo

Here's another Cloud Nine track with great guitar work by Clapton; it's "Devil's Radio," Harrison's rocking diatribe (in the key of E) against gossip. Also, while we're not quite sure if Starr is playing drums on "Cloud 9," there's no question he's behind the kit on this one.

OH LORD, WHY LORD | Jim Capaldi | 1988
Eric and George

I bet you weren't expecting this one! Yes, both Clapton and Harrison play guitar on this obscure Jim Capaldi tune from the late Eighties. It's stuff like this that made the late Eighties the "second golden era" of Clapton/Beatles collaborations ... although we admit the first golden era was a lot more interesting.

RUN SO FAR and THAT KIND OF WOMAN | Eric Clapton | 1989
Eric and George

Clapton recorded these two Harrison compostions for his hit 1989 album, Journeyman. However, Only "Run So Far" made the final cut. "That Kind of Woman" would eventually see the light of day when it was released on Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal in 1990. You can check out both songs below.

Gary Moore recorded his own version of "That Kind of Woman" right around the same time (and Moore's version also features Harrison on guitar). Harrison recorded his own version of "Run So Far" for his final album, 2002's posthumously released Brainwashed.

FREEDOM | Paul McCartney | 2001
Eric and Paul

In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, McCartney quickly wrote and recorded this fairly simple song; he even halted production of his late-2001 album, Driving Rain, so that "Freedom" could be tacked on as a (hidden) bonus track. And yes, that's Clapton on guitar.

NEVER WITHOUT YOU | Ringo Starr | 2003
Eric and Ringo

This song, a rare bright spot from Ringo's way-too-long Mark Hudson era (Hudson was Ringo's producer), is Ringo's tribute to Harrison, who had died of cancer only two years earlier. It features some great Clapton riffs, from the solo through the end of the song. That dude playing the Strat and miming the solo in the video is not Clapton, by the way. You might want to close your eyes during the solo to avoid distraction.

MY VALENTINE | Paul McCartney | 2012
Eric and Paul

The music video features Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp. The recording features a nice nylon-string solo by Clapton. This song is still featured in McCartney's live sets; I actually saw him perform it last week in Newark.

ALL OF ME | Eric Clapton | 2013
Eric and Paul

This Clapton recording—a harmless Old Sock album track—features McCartney on backing vocals and standup bass. It's the same bass once owned by Bill Black, the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio. So there you have it.

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, the two surviving former members of the Beatles, have reunited for Starr's new solo single, "We're On the Road Again."

What's amazing about the song, the new single from Starr's upcoming album, Give More Love, is the fact that the two surviving Beatles aren't the only noteworthy musicians to play on the song. Edgar Winter, Joe Walsh and Steve Lukather all join the Fab Four rhythm section on "We're On the Road Again." Talk about an "All-Starr Band."

You can check out the star-studded track via Rolling Stone.

You can pre-order Give More Lovehere and find out more about Starr and his projects on his website.

Former Beatle Ringo Starr turns 77 today, July 7, 2017. In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I'd gather up five songs that feature some of the best guitar work from Ringo's solo albums. After all, from 1970's Sentimental Journey through 2015's Postcards from Paradise, Ringo's albums have featured guest appearances by several name-brand guitarists, including George Harrison, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Joe Walsh, Stephen Stills, Robert Randolph, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, Jessie Davey, Peter Frampton and Laurence Juber.

So, as promised, here are five solo Ringo songs with guitar work that truly stands out.

5. "PRIVATE PROPERTY," Stop and Smell the Roses (1981)
Guitarist: Laurence Juber

This is one of two Paul McCartney compositions that Macca and his crew (including his wife Linda, Wings guitarist Laurence Juber and pedal steel legend Lloyd Green) contributed to Ringo's Stop and Smell the Roses sessions. Juber's brief but brilliant solo starts at 4:16—but be sure to enjoy Green's sturdy pedal steel chops, which start gracing the song around the 39-second mark. Green's playing also can be heard on Wings' 1974 single, "Sally G," and on the Byrds' classic 1968 album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Juber is the featured guitarist on Wings' 1979 album, Back to the Egg.

4. "A DOSE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL," Ringo's Rotogravure (1976)
Guitarists: Peter Frampton, Jesse Ed Davis, Danny Kortchmar

There's not much to say about this mini-masterpiece of a solo, except that it's perfect for the song—and maybe a little too brief. Listen to how it starts off all smiley and happy and then swerves into a darker place as it follows the chord changes. A few years ago, I spoke to Peter Frampton about this tune, and it went a little something like this:

You played guitar on Ringo Starr's “A Dose of Rock ’N’ Roll.” But did you play the solo?
I can't remember [laughs]. It was the Seventies, and I know I was sober for the session, but I'm not sure about right after. I'd have to listen to it again and see. People keep coming up to me, saying, "Is this you on this?" And I have to go listen to it to find out. I did more sessions than I remember doing. There were a lot of things in the Seventies that I played on that people keep reminding me about. [I play the song to him.] Yeah, the first part is me. I forgot all about that! That's me. And then, I forget who it is that comes in there, but that sounds like I'm playing my Gibson and then a Telecaster or a Strat comes in.

Well, Jesse Ed Davis also plays on the song.
Oh, yeah, Jesse Ed Davis. That's probably who it is.

To read the rest of my conversation with Frampton, head here.

3. "NEVER WITHOUT YOU," Ringo Rama (2003)
Guitarist: Eric Clapton

This song, a bright spot from Ringo's Mark Hudson era (Hudson was Ringo's not-so-fab producer), is Ringo's tribute to George Harrison, who had died of cancer only two years earlier. It features some fine Eric Clapton riffs, from the solo through to the end of the song. That dude playing the Strat and miming the solo in the video is not Clapton, by the way. You might want to close your eyes during the solo to avoid distraction.

2. "$15 DRAW," Beaucoups of Blues (1970)
Guitarist: Jerry Reed

This is one of the killer songs from Ringo's second solo album, Beaucoups of Blues, which he recorded in Nashville with some of the city's finest studio musicians. Charlie Daniels is on the album, as are D.J. Fontana, Pete Drake and Sorrells Pickard, who wrote this tune. "$15 Draw" sums up guitarist Jerry Reed's style to a T. You can hear Reed explore this same sort of picking in most of his own tunes, including "Guitar Man." I've always thought this song could be a hit if someone were record it today. It tells a great story, takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride and has a super-catchy riff.

Since we're on the topic, here's a Guitar World lesson dedicated to Reed's playing style. Enjoy!

1. "BACK OFF BOOGALOO," 1972 single; available on Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr
Guitarist: George Harrison

George Harrison's slide playing is all over this Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) composition, the followup to Ringo's first hit single, "It Don't Come Easy," which also features a tasteful Harrison solo. This song features some fine drumming by Ringo, bass playing by Klaus Voormann and keyboards by Gary Wright. Harrison played several classy solos on Ringo's records throughout the years, including "Early 1970," "Down and Out," "Wrack My Brain" and "King of Broken Hearts."

In the mid-Nineties, while Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were working on the Beatles' massive Anthology project, they got together with George Martin, their old producer, at Abbey Road Studios to discuss and dissect a few classic Beatles tracks.

In the incredible clip below, you can watch as they go through the various parts of John Lennon's Revolver masterpiece, "Tomorrow Never Knows," a song that signaled the band's new direction for 1966.

At the 1:10 mark, watch as Martin and McCartney grab the faders to reveal the many different layers of "Tomorrow Never Knows."

"People tend to credit John with the backwards recordings, the loops and the weird sound effects, but the tape loops were my thing," McCartney says in Barry Miles' Many Years From Now. "The only thing I ever used them on was 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' It was nice for this to leak into the Beatle stuff as it did. We ran the loops and then we ran the track of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and we played the faders, and just before you could tell it was a loop, before it began to repeat a lot, I'd pull in one of the other faders, and so, using the other people, 'You pull that in there,' 'You pull that in,' we did a half random, half orchestrated playing of the things and recorded that to a track on the actual master tape, so that if we got a good one, that would be the solo. We played it through a few times and changed some of the tapes till we got what we thought was a real good one. I think it is a great solo."

Rumor has it that McCartney's "Tomorrow Never Knows" guitar parts are actually transplants from "Taxman."

Titled simply "Mark 1" at the time recording commenced on April 6, 1966, the song was the product of Lennon's experience with LSD, which he'd taken the previous January. Using lines from The Psychedelic Experience, an LSD manual based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, he wrote the song as a mantra composed of one repeating melody line over driving bass and drum track.

"It's only got the one chord, and the whole thing is meant to be like a drone," Lennon told Martin and EMI engineer Geoff Emerick. Additionally, he explained, he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai Lama chanting from a mountaintop."

• Says Emerick, "I was thinking, Well, I've got an echo chamber and ... that's all! I didn't know what I was going to do. And suddenly, there it was, staring me in the face!" "It'' was the studio's Leslie rotary speaker cabinet, a standard piece of equipment for organs but one that had never been used for any other instrument or for voice. As Lennon's voice came swirling through the Leslie, the assembled group listened in awe from the control room. "It's the Dalai Lennon!" exclaimed McCartney.

Christmas time is here again. So sang the Beatles on their 1967 Christmas record of the same name, one of several now-collectable flexi-discs issued annually to members of the band's official fan clubs in the U.K. and U.S.

The records, which often were mini-masterpieces in their own right (1966 and 1967 in particular), featured spoken and musical messages from all four members of the band. They started in 1963, when all four band members recorded the message in the same studio at the same time, and ended in 1969, when each Beatle basically phoned in his part from who knows where.

As a final holiday gift to the fans, a Christmas compilation album—From Them to You in the U.K., The Beatles' Christmas Album in the U.S.—was issued in December 1970, a few months after the band had officially called it a day.

Below, we've gathered all seven Beatles Christmas records—plus Christmas and/or holiday tunes by all four solo Beatles from 1971 to 2012, plus a bonus track of sorts.

By the way, the only Beatle to record an entire Christmas album is Ringo Starr, who released I Wanna Be Santa Claus in 1999. To keep things simple (and generally pleasing for everyone involved), we've included only the title track. Below, you have the makings of a very Beatles Christmas. Use it with caution!

1963: The Beatles' Christmas Record

1964: Another Beatles Christmas Record

1965: The Beatles' Third Christmas Record

1966: The Beatles' Fourth Christmas Record—Pantomime: Everywhere It's Christmas

1967: Christmas Time Is Here Again!

1968: The Beatles' 1968 Christmas Record
This one features the one-and-only Tiny Tim.

1969: The Beatles' Seventh Christmas Record: Happy Christmas 1969

1971: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"

1974: George Harrison, "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"
This one features Ringo Starr on drums and Alvin Lee of Ten Years After on guitar. Although it's not exactly a Christmas song, it's a holiday tune that was released as a single in December 1974. It's also on Harrison's Dark Horse album.

1979: Paul McCartney, "Wonderful Christmastime"
Even though this single was attributed to Paul McCartney, the Back to the Egg lineup of Wings can be seen in the video—including master fingerstyle guitarist Laurence Juber.

1999: Ringo Starr, "I Wanna Be Santa Claus"

2012: Paul McCartney, "The Christmas Song"

2014: Richard Cruz Jr., "Wish You a Merry Merry Christmas"
Two years ago, Richard Cruz Jr. of Wolftrane (formerly of Carvin Amps) took a 45-year-old unfinished Beatles Christmas song idea and added lyrics and a bridge, making a complete song out of McCartney's off-the-cuff lyrics (which can heard in the Beatles' 1969 Christmas message above). This track was recorded at Attic Recording in Escondido, California. Enjoy!

In this section of my 2013 interview with Peter Frampton, we discuss his talk-box usage and his involvement in recording sessions featuring two former Beatles—George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the Seventies. Enjoy!

Where'd you get the idea for the talk box? Did it take a long time to learn how to use it correctly?
When I was living at home with my parents in the Sixties, there was a radio station called Radio Luxembourg. They used this gadget to do their call letters. Also, I think Alvino Rey started using something approaching the sound of a talk box in 1939. But the guy who showed me the talk box was pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake.

So I moved to America and found that Bob Heil was starting to make them because Joe Walsh had asked him to. Pete lent Joe the talk box he used on "Rocky Mountain Way.” I verified this the other day when I spoke with Joe at a Ringo Starr show. Pete's wife, I think, sent it up to Joe to use on that song. It was a very quiet unit that was great for the studio but not for the road.

That's when Bob Heil made one that was more road-worthy. I got one of those around about the same time he'd made the first one for Joe. So Joe and I were playing on the same bill. I’d open for him, and he'd be doing “Rocky Mountain Way,” but I'd go on first and use it on "Do You Feel."

I don't think Joe was thrilled [laughs]. It didn't take too long to get a decent sound out of it, but it took a while to work out how to talk with it. Pete Drake, when I first saw him demonstrate it, made the pedal steel talk and sing. That just floored me. A lot of other people have used the talk box but have used it as a sound, as opposed to actually making the guitar enunciate words.

I'd always thought, “Well, I want to communicate to the audience with this sound, like Pete Drake had to me, and how Alvino Rey had.” There's a video from the 1940s of Alvino Rey doing this thing with “Stringy,” a talking steel guitar puppet. You can find it on YouTube [Check it out below].

And Pete Drake had a song called “Forever,” which was a gold record for him, I think. So it was started a long time ago, and it never ceases to get a wonderful response from audiences, maybe because there's so much Auto-Tune going on, which is much more annoying [laughs]. Hopefully, that'll go away.

How would you sum up your contribution to George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album? The liner notes and credits have always been sketchy at best.
My contribution was acoustic guitar. I was involved in five of the basic tracks with Badfinger, all playing acoustic guitars, including George and myself. So there were about three of them. Well, there were at least five of us. You're talking about Phil Spector, so “More is more” [laughs].

There were at least five of us on acoustic guitars, and then Pete Drake, the steel player, came over half-way through during those five tracks, and we did some of the more country ones, like "If Not for You," which Bob Dylan had written. After I'd done those, which I believe were the last tracks George did on the album, he called me up after a few weeks and said, "Phil wants more acoustic guitars on the tracks." I remember laughing at the time. This time it was just me and George at Abbey Road, the same studio where the Beatles had done Sgt. Pepper.

It's pretty heady stuff, even to this day. I was looking through the glass, and there was Phil Spector. We were literally sitting in front of the glass, the two of us on stools, and I don’t know how many tracks I played on because they just kept adding acoustic guitars to anything with acoustics on it.

The most enjoyable part of that whole thing was in between, when they would change reels, because it was analog, obviously, George and I would start jamming. We were playing whatever; you name it, we were jamming on it. That was the highlight for me, to jam with George and just have fun.

Speaking of former Beatles, you’re credited with playing guitar on a Ringo Starr single from 1976, “A Dose of Rock ’N’ Roll,” from Ringo’s Rotogravure. Did you play the solo?
I can't remember [laughs]. It was the Seventies, and I know I was sober for the session, but I'm not sure about right after. I'd have to listen to it again and see. People keep coming up to me, saying, "Is this you on this?" And I have to go listen to it to find out. I did more sessions than I remember doing. There were a lot of things in the Seventies that I played on that people keep reminding me about.

[I play the song to him.] Yeah, the first part is me. I forgot all about that! That's me. And then, I forget who it is that comes in there, but that sounds like I'm playing my Gibson and then a Telecaster or a Strat comes in.

Well, Jesse Ed Davis is one of the other guitarists who plays on that track. [Guitarist Danny Kortchmar also plays on the song.]
Oh, yeah, Jesse Ed Davis. That's probably who it is.

As any rock fan knows, all four Beatles never got back together.

What you might not know is that even partial Beatles reunions and "near misses" were frustratingly rare back when such things mattered (prior to George Harrison's death on November 29, 2001).

Which is why the video below is so enjoyable.

On June 5, 1987, three of the five original musicians who appeared on the classic Beatles White Album track "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" reunited to perform the song live at the Prince's Trust Rock Gala at London's Wembley Arena.

George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton were joined by an all-star U.K. band, including Elton John, Phil Collins, Jeff Lynne, Ray Cooper and ... well, if you're wondering who that understandably happy bassist is, it's Mark King of Level 42.

What's most interesting about this performance is the fact that A., the normally Strat-happy Clapton is playing a beautiful Gibson Les Paul, just as he did on the original 1968 recording, and B., the also-Strat-happy Harrison joins Clapton in the extended guitar solo at the end of the song (He does not solo on the original studio version). The two guitarists trade solos and feed off each other's energy, and their intertwining lines are often pretty damn cool.

Paul McCartney, another one of the five original musicians who appeared on the original Beatles recording (John Lennon is the fifth), would go on to perform "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Clapton and Starr in November 2002 at the Concert for George. Harrison, Starr and Clapton also performed the song live in 1971 at the Concert for Bangladesh.

Of course, for the closest thing to a full-on Beatles reunion, there's nothing quite like the mid-Nineties footage of McCartney, Harrison and Starr hanging out together during the making of Anthology (bottom video).

For studio recordings that come close to full reunions, check out Starr's "I'm the Greatest" from 1973 (written by Lennon and featuring Lennon, Harrison, Starr and Let It Be keyboardist Billy Preston) and Harrison's "All Those Years Ago" from 1981 (featuring McCartney, Harrison and Starr).

Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado. His New York-based band, the Blue Meanies, has toured the world and elsewhere. Fanelli, a former member of Brooklyn jump-blues/swing/rockabilly band the Gas House Gorillas and New York City instrumental surf-rock band Mister Neutron, also composes and records film soundtracks. He writes GuitarWorld.com's The Next Bend column, which is dedicated to B-bender guitars and guitarists. His latest liner notes can be found in Sony/Legacy's Stevie Ray Vaughan: The Complete Epic Recordings Collection. Follow him on Facebook,Twitter and/or Instagram.

Just as an overworked John Lennon and Paul McCartney came up with an overnight masterpiece in 1964 with "A Hard Day's Night" amid a stressful filming and recording schedule, the Beatles responded to time constraints in 1965 with another monumental step forward called Rubber Soul.

When the band finished recording Help! in mid-June (after filming yet another feature film), they took off on a tour of Spain, France and Italy that lasted till early July, followed by a show in Blackpool and another tour of the U.S. and Canada in August.

Their U.S. trip included another Ed Sullivan Show appearance, their first Shea Stadium show and a return to the Hollywood Bowl—not to mention mingling with Bob Dylan, the Supremes, Elvis Presley—and LSD (although McCartney waited another year before giving in to the drug). The band returned to England in September and had about a month to prepare material for a new album, which had to hit the record shops in time for Christmas.

They had help from several new instruments that had found their way into The Beatles' camp. These included Harrison's new 1965 Rickenbacker 360-12 with updated, rounded-edge cutaways, which he had acquired during a tour stop in Minneapolis and used on "If I Needed Someone," and George Harrison and Lennon's matching Sonic Blue 1961 Fender Stratocasters with rosewood fretboards. These two Strats marked the Beatles' entry into the world of Fender.

"I decided I'd get a Strat, and John decided he'd get one too," Harrison said. "So we sent out our roadie, Mal Evans … and he came back with two of them, pale blue ones. Straight away we used them on the album we were making at the time, Rubber Soul." Although the Strats can be heard throughout the album, they are most noticeable on "Nowhere Man." The serial number on Harrison's Strat is 83840, which dates it to late 1961.

McCartney had turned to his latest acquisition, a Rickenbacker 4001S bass, as his main bass for the Rubber Soul sessions. He had received the bass when Rickenbacker's Francis C. Hall, who had visited the band in New York in 1964 with several models for the band to choose from, visited the band in Los Angeles in August 1965 with his son John and only one model—a left-handed Fireglo 4001S for McCartney.

Other instruments included a cheap sitar Harrison bought at a London shop after being intrigued by the Indian musicians on the set of "Help!"; it is most famously heard on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)." Harrison and Lennon's Gibson J-160E models returned, as did Lennon's 1964 Rickenbacker 325 Capri, Lennon's Framus Hootenanny acoustic (which was mostly played by Harrison at this point) and Harrison's Gretsch Tennessean.

McCartney used his 1962 Epiphone Casino and Epiphone Texan acoustic, both of which he still performs with today, and his 1963 Hofner 500/1 bass. McCartney played through a Vox AC100 amp and a Fender Bassman while Lennon and Harrison played through Vox AC30 and AC100 guitar amps.

As it turned out, the song-hungry band already had one song in the can, "Wait," a leftover from the Help! sessions that was recorded on June 17. Actual sessions for Rubber Soul began October 12 with "Run For Your Life," a hastily written rockabilly number by Lennon, which borrows two lines from Presley's "Baby Let's Play House" and features at least one out-of-tune guitar.

Things improved the next day with McCartney's "Drive My Car," the product of the first Beatles session to extend past midnight. The song's bottom-heavy American R&B feel is the result of Harrison's infatuation with Otis Redding's 1965 hit single, "Respect" (later covered by Aretha Franklin). Harrison plays a Donald "Duck" Dunn-esque bass line on his Strat while McCartney doubles him on the Rickenbacker bass. McCartney also plays his first lead guitar break as a Beatle, delivering a funky slide solo via his Epiphone Casino.

Just as he did on Help!, Harrison contributed two songs to Rubber Soul—"If I Needed Someone" and "Think For Yourself." The former features Harrison playing his 1965 Rickenbacker 360-12 with a capo on the seventh fret, with Harrison borrowing heavily from Jim McGuinn, who played a similar figure on the Byrds' "The Bells of Rhymney" and "She Don't Care About Time," although such a figure also gives the song a droning effect, common to Indian music, which Harrison was discovering.

McCartney's bass line foreshadows his brilliant bass work on Revolver and "Rain"; the composition leaves the door open to many bass possibilities, but McCartney chooses to arpeggiate upward through a twelfth, as heard on the verses. The bass' solid maple body gives it a punchier, clearer tone, which can be heard on this song and the rest of the album.

"Think For Yourself" is notable for its two bass parts, both played by McCartney. One is played through the Vox AC100 bass amp; the other—credited as a "fuzz bass" on the album sleeve—was recorded direct through a distortion box. Ken Townsend, a former Abbey Road technician, has stated that EMI, which owned the studio, built their own distortion devices, which the Beatles would often use. However, it is possible McCartney was using a prototype Vox Tone Bender, which Dick Denney of Vox said were delivered to the Beatles in early 1965.

With Rubber Soul, the Beatles seriously broadened their sound, responding to their diverse influences and thinking well outside the box instrumentally.

The album also featured homespun recording innovations, including George Martin recording the "harpsichord" solo on "In My Life" at half speed—on a piano, then speeding it up when mixing. Other innovations include the use of electronic sound processing, especially the compressed and heavily equalized piano part on "The Word."

RUBBER SOUL: EXTRA INFO

Recorded: June 17, October 12-13, 16, 18, 21-22, November 3-4, 8, 10-11, 1965

Location: Abbey Road Studio Two

Released: December 3, 1965

Track Listing:

• Drive My Car
• Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
• You Won't See Me
• Nowhere Man
• Think For Yourself
• The Word
• Michelle
• What Goes On
• Girl
• I'm Looking Through You
• In My Life
• Wait
• If I Needed Someone
• Run for Your Life

Yeah, Yeah ...

"Girl": This beautiful, continental-sounding track (Lennon's answer to "Michelle," perhaps?) features Lennon's Gibson J-160E capoed at the eighth fret to make it sound like a bazuki, thus adding to the song's European flavor.

… No

"Run For Your Life": This simple—in almost all respects—and hastily written Lennon tune would've been more at home on Beatles For Sale or Help! Lennon wasn't exactly fond of it, either.

Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World.

Photo: thebeatles.com

The Beatles' 19th single in Britain—"Get Back," backed with "Don't Let Me Down"—was released April 11, 1969, so the song was already well known when the Let It Be album was released a year later.

However, the single version (available on Past Masters) was recorded January 28, 1969 (as was "Don't Let Me Down"), while the album version was recorded the previous day—and it shows. The single version is more powerful, and the band attacks it with a bit more confidence, perhaps the result of giving the tune an extra night to sink in.

Other differences are the result of mixing; the single version (3:11), which benefits from a healthy dose of reverb, starts off cold and features nothing but pure Beatles-style R&B, fading out after some extended jamming and riffing by Paul McCartney ("Your mama's waiting for ya, wearing her high-heel shoes and her low-neck sweater").

The album version opens with some January 27 studio chatter (including John Lennon's "Sweet Loretta Fart, she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan" parody) and ends with a snippet of the January 30 rooftop performance, with Lennon hoping the band had "passed the audition."

Both versions feature Lennon playing lead guitar, getting a pleasing P90 tone out of his sanded-down Epiphone Casino; George Harrison on his custom-built rosewood Telecaster and McCartney on a Hofner 500/1, most likely his 1963 model. Both versions also feature brilliant playing by longtime Beatle friend Billy Preston, a recent Apple Records signing and true professional who melded quickly with his new, albeit temporary, band mates.

The song's chorus was initially inspired by the plight of Kenyan Asian refugees who were bound for Britain; the phrase "get back" wasn't meant in earnest, however; it was McCartney's satirical comment on the resulting racism brewing in Britain.

A 1964 “British” Rickenbacker guitar owned and played by John Lennon will be coming to auction in December.

The guitar, shown in the video below, is part of a trove of more than 800 personal items—including gear and rare albums—owned by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, who is putting it all up for auction at Julien’s Auction in Beverly Hills, California, December 4 and 5.

According to Andy Babiuk’s Beatles Gear book, Lennon’s guitar, a model 1996 Rickenbacker, was one of six exclusive models that British distributor Rose-Morris commissioned from Rickenbacker in autumn 1964. Some of the guitars came with f holes instead of the typical “slash” style sound holes found on Rickenbackers. All of the guitars were offered only in Fireglo finishes. The series became known as the “British” line of Rickenbackers, as well as “Beatle Backers,” thanks to Lennon’s use of the 1996 model.

Lennon received the guitar in December 1964 while the Beatles were performing their second annual series of Christmas-themed shows, from December 26 through January 16. The guitar was provided as a replacement after he damaged his black 1964 Rickenbacker 325 during one of the performances. The black 325 had been made specially for him to replace his original road-worn 1958 model 325.

“John Lennon has broken the Rickenbacker guitar that was specially made for him,” a news item of the time said, “and Rose-Morris have provided him with a production model, the 1996, from stock which is very similar to his original while the broken one is being repaired.”

The “British” Rickenbacker 1996 was identical to Lennon’s 1964 Rickenbacker 325 except for the f-hole and Fireglo finish. In addition to the holiday shows, Lennon played the guitar while recording demos in his home studio before gifting it to Starr in 1968 during the making of the Beatles “White Album.” The guitar is expected to fetch $600,000 to $800,000 on the block.

In addition, the auction will feature a Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean guitar gifted to Starr by Beatles guitarist George Harrison (see second video below). It’s not clear at this time if the guitar was ever played by Harrison. He acquired a Tennessean—possibly a 1962 or 1963 model—in 1963, while the Beatles were performing their first round of Christmas-themed shows. Harrison played that guitar onstage and on recordings in 1964 and 1965.

Starr is also auctioning off a Gibson Les Paul he received from guitarist Marc Bolan (see third video below). The glam-rocker played on Starr’s 1973 album, Ringo, and Starr was inspired to write his hit “Back Off Boogaloo” from Bolan’s frequent use of the word “boogaloo.”

Starr and his wife, Barbara Bach, decided to auction the items after The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles asked him to do an exhibition about his life and music in 2013.

“It started with me looking at storage units we have all around the world,” Starr says. “We found we had so much stuff.”

Starr also discovered boxes of photo negatives from the Sixties onward when he began assembling his upcoming book, Photograph. More items came to light when the couple sold their country house in England and closed down their apartment in Monte Carlo.

“We thought, What are we going to do with all this stuff?” Starr says.

Other auction highlights include Starr’s first 1963 Ludwig Oyster black pearl three-piece drum kit that he used in over 200 performances and recordings between May 1963 and February 1964. Beatles bassist Paul McCartney also used the set on his first solo album, McCartney. The set is expected to go for $300,000 to $500,000.

For more about the auction, visit Julien’s.

Paul McCartney has premiered a newly remastered version of "Take It Away," a track from his 1982 album, Tug of War.

The song, which also was released as a single, features Ringo Starr (and Steve Gadd) on drums and was produced by Beatles producer George Martin, as was the rest of Tug of War.

Tug of War and 1983's Pipes of Peace will be released October 2 as a deluxe CD/DVD reissue. You can check out the complete track listings for both albums below. You can watch the original music video for "Take It Away"—at the very bottom of the story.

Besides Starr, Tug of War features guest appearances by Stevie Wonder (Can anyone forget "Ebony and Ivory"?), Carl Perkins ("Get It") and Denny Laine, McCartney's former Wings band mate. In fact, the album marks the last time McCartney and Laine would work together.

It should be noted that Tug of War was a major success, going platinum and spawning two Top 10 hits—"Ebony and Ivory" and "Take It Away."

Tug of War

Disc One: Remixed Album

• 1. Tug of War (Remixed 2015)
• 2. Take It Away (Remixed 2015)
• 3. Somebody Who Cares (Remixed 2015)
• 4. What's That You're Doing? (Remixed 2015)
• 5. Here Today (Remixed 2015)
• 6. Ballroom Dancing (Remixed 2015)
• 7. The Pound Is Sinking (Remixed 2015)
• 8. Wanderlust (Remixed 2015)
• 9. Get It (Remixed 2015)
• 10. Be What You See (Remixed 2015)
• 11. Dress Me Up as a Robber (Remixed 2015)
• 12. Ebony and Ivory (Remixed 2015)

Disc Two: Original Album

1. Tug of War
2. Take It Away
3. Somebody Who Cares
4. What's That You're Doing?
5. Here Today
6. Ballroom Dancing
7. The Pound Is Sinking
8. Wanderlust
9. Get It
10. Be What You See
11. Dress Me Up as a Robber
12. Ebony and Ivory

Disc Three: Bonus Audio

1. Stop, You Don't Know Where She Came From [Demo] (previously unreleased)
2. Wanderlust [Demo] (previously unreleased)
3. Ballroom Dancing [Demo] (previously unreleased)
4. Take It Away [Demo] (previously unreleased)
5. The Pound Is Sinking [Demo] (2015 Remaster)
6. Something That Didn't Happen [Demo] (previously unreleased)
7. Ebony and Ivory [Demo] (previously unreleased)
8. Dress Me Up as a Robber/Robber Riff [Demo] (previously unreleased)
9. Ebony and Ivory [Solo Version] (B-side of "Ebony and Ivory" 12-inch single)
10. Rainclouds (B-side of Ebony and Ivory 7-inch single)
11. I'll Give You a Ring (B-side of Take It Away single)

Disc Four: Bonus Film

1. "Tug of War" Music Video (Version 1)
2. "Tug of War" Music Video (Version 2)
3. "Take It Away Music Video
4. "Ebony and Ivory" Music Video
5. "Fly TIA - Behind The Scenes on 'Take It Away'" (new 18-minute documentary using previously unreleased archive footage)

Pipes of Peace

Disc One: Remastered Album (Stereo)

1. Pipes of Peace
2. Say Say Say
3. The Other Me
4. Keep Under Cover
5. So Bad
6. The Man
7. Sweetest Little Show
8. Average Person
9. Hey Hey
10. Tug of Peace
11. Through Our Love

Disc Two: Bonus Audio

1. Average Person [Demo] (previously unreleased)
2. Keep Under Cover [Demo] (previously unreleased)
3. Sweetest Little Show [Demo] (previously unreleased)
4. It's Not On [Demo] (previously unreleased)
5. Simple as That [Demo] (previously unreleased)
6. Say Say Say [2015 Remix] (previously unreleased)
7. Ode to a Koala Bear (B-side of 'Say Say Say' single)
8. Twice in a Lifetime (bonus track from 1993
9. Christian Bop (previously unreleased)

Disc Three: DVD

1. "Pipes of Peace" Music Video
2. "So Bad" Music Video
3. "Say Say Say" Music Video
4. "Hey Hey in Montserrat" (previously unreleased home movie footage, three mins)
5. "Behind the Scenes at AIR Studios" (previously unreleased six min edit)
6. "The Man" (previously unreleased home movie footage, four mins)

Having opened a Pandora's box with their critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles faced serious competition from a variety of open-minded artists who were expanding rock music's barriers.

Newcomers like Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd and the Doors, and even contemporaries like the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan were challenging the Beatles' role as innovators. But rather than continue to pursue the psychedelic excesses of the previous year, the Beatles went in the opposite direction.

The result was a double-album that found the group returning to a more stripped-down rock and roll sound and often eschewing electric guitars for acoustics. Popularly known as the White Album for its stark white sleeve, The Beatles was made during a particularly tumultuous period for the band.

In the wake of manager Brian Epstein's death in August 1967, Paul McCartney had begun to assume more of a leadership role, creating an imbalance in the group's seemingly democratic power structure. At the same time, John Lennon, newly in love with Yoko Ono, was beginning to lose interest in the Beatles.

George Harrison had grown tired of having his creativity quashed by Lennon and McCartney and began pushing back against their authority. Starr, meanwhile, was becoming fed up with sitting around in the studio and waiting for the others to finish writing their songs. Ironically, the group's disintegration occurred after a fruitful period of togetherness, when the four Beatles traveled to India in spring 1968 to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

While in India they wrote more than 30 songs, many of which became the basis for the White Album, including "Dear Prudence," "Julia" and "Mother Nature's Son." Upon returning to England, the group convened at Kinfauns, George Harrison's house in Esher, to record four-track demos for the new album. By some accounts, neither Lennon nor McCartney was willing to sacrifice some of his songs to make room for others, and thus The Beatles became a double album.

According to Harrison, "The rot had already set in."

But it's also true that the Beatles' creative energy could no longer be confined to a single album—nor a single studio. As a result, when it came time to record the album, the Beatles essentially took over Abbey Road, occupying several studios at once while they recorded their new songs, often working on them individually rather than as a group.

Anyone who walked down the halls of the facility on a June evening in 1968 probably would have been shocked by the contrast between McCartney recording the wistful "Blackbird" on an acoustic guitar in Studio Two while Lennon was in Studio Three manipulating and mutilating tape loops for "Revolution 9," his and Ono's musique concrete tape experiment.

After McCartney's dominant role on Sgt. Pepper's, Lennon was eager to assert more control on the White Album. His song "Revolution 1" was the very first tune the group tackled for the record when the sessions began on May 30.

Though Lennon insisted the Beatles release the track as their next single—the first release on their new Apple label—McCartney convinced him that the tempo was too slow and unlikely to make the song a Number One hit. Lennon relented, but on July 10, he led the group through a faster, rocking version of the tune, called simply "Revolution," which was ultimately selected as the flipside for "Hey Jude," the Beatles' debut Apple single.

As on Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's, engineer Geoff Emerick was responsible for the song's innovative sound, most notably the heavily fuzzed-out guitar tones. To create them, Emerick plugged Lennon and Harrison's guitars (probably their Epiphone Casino and Gibson SG, respectively) directly into Studio Two's mixing console, overdriving two REDD.4 7 mic preamps to create the warm distorted tones.

"I had an idea that I wanted to try," Emerick recalled of the session in his 2006 memoir, Here, There and Everywhere, "one that I thought might satisfy John, even though it was equipment abuse of the most severe kind. Because no amount of mic preamp overload had been good enough for him, I decided to try to overload two of them patched together, one into the other. As I knelt down beside the console, turning knobs that I was expressly forbidden from touching because they could literally cause the console to overheat and blow up, I couldn't help but think, If I was the studio manager and saw this going on, I'd fire myself."

Emerick didn't have to worry about being fired—on July 16, just six days after the "Revolution" session, he quit. The day before, he'd worked on a particularly grueling vocal session for the McCartney track "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and the tension had simply become too much for him. "I was on the verge of a breakdown during the making of the White Album," Emerick says. "It was because of the emotional stress for me. I was just not into it."

The conflicts only became worse as the work continued through the summer and into autumn. Ringo Starr was next to leave. Feeling unappreciated by his bandmates, he quit the band in the middle of recording "Back in the U.S.S.R." on August 22. In his absence, McCartney (and possibly Lennon and Harrison as well) handled drum duties on the song, as he did when the threesome recorded "Dear Prudence" on August 28. (As these are the first two songs on The Beatles, Starr isn't heard on the album until "Glass Onion.")

Starr returned on September 5, but his brief exit demonstrates how strained The Beatles' relations were becoming. Even though the band members spent a considerable amount of time working separately on the album, they recorded most of the backing tracks for its 30 songs live as a group. Typically, the writer of each song would then work on overdubs alone or with another Beatie or two assisting.

As several tracks were being worked on at once, George Martin was unable to oversee all of the sessions. In his absence, the individual band members or Martin's assistant Chris Thomas took over. Harrison in particular seemed more empowered than he had been on previous albums. In addition to often working on his own songs in a separate studio, he made decisions without consulting anyone else, such as when he brought in Eric Clapton to play lead guitar on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

Harrison recalled that Clapton's presence made his bandmates "try a bit harder; they were all on their best behavior." Harrison was also becoming less inclined to defer to Martin's authority. Once while Harrison was working on the mix for his song "Savoy Truffle," Martin said he thought it sounded too shrill and trebly. "I like it like that," Harrison said, turning his back on Martin and continuing his work.

But amid the enmity, the Beatles were, as always, breaking new ground in the studio. By 1968, they had recorded in each of Abbey Road's three studios, but for the taping of "Yer Blues" on August 13, they found a spot that they had not used yet—a small utility closet known as the Studio Two "annexe." The tight quarters gave the recording an especially "live" sound, thanks to microphone leakage and sound-wave reflections off the walls.

From a technological standpoint, the White Album is significant for marking the Beatles' transition to eight-track recording. In this respect, Ken Scott, who replaced Emerick in the engineer's seat, played an instrumental role. Abbey Road had purchased several 3M eight-track recorders in May 1968, but the machines required numerous modifications before George Martin would approve their use on Beatles sessions. However, during an evening of work on ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Scott removed one of the unmodified eight-track machines from storage when he could no longer tolerate being limited to four tracks.

Although only 10 of the album's songs were recorded entirely on eight-track machines, by the time the album was finished, the Beatles' four-track era reached its end. Despite having more tracks at their disposal, the Beatles kept the album's music surprisingly straightforward and stripped down.

They made up for the recordings' simplicity by offering listeners an impressively eclectic 90-minute musical journey that included acoustic folk, rock and roll, blues, country, acid rock, music-hall schmaltz, avant-garde experimentalism and smartly crafted electric pop rock. Few artists cover as much stylistic ground in their careers—the Beatles pulled off this monumental feat in a mere four and a half months.

In the end, even the double-album format was not enough to contain all of their creative ambitions, and several of the songs they wrote during this period were put aside for later release. Some, like Harrison's "Not Guilty" and Lennon's "What's the New Mary Jane," were recorded during the White Album sessions but not issued.

And while George Martin has always believed that the group should have trimmed the collection down to a single disk, even the most casual Beatles fan would have trouble picking five songs to cut from the White Album, let alone 15.

THE BEATLES: EXTRA FACTS

Recorded: May 30 to October 13
Location: Abbey Road One, Two and Three; Trident Studios
Released: November 2, 1968

TRACKLISTING

• Back In the U.S.S.R
• Dear Prudence
• Glass Onion
• Ob-La-Dt, Ob-La-Da
• Wild Honey Pie
• The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps
• Happiness Is a Warm Gun
• Martha My Dear
• I'm So Tired
• Blackbird
• Piggies
• Rocky Raccoon
• Don't Pass Me By
• Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
• I Will
• Julia
• Birthday
• Yer Blues
• Mother Nature's Son
• Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
• Sexy Sadie
• Helter Skelter
• Long, Long, Long
• Revolution 1
• Honey Pie
• Savoy Truffle
• Cry Baby Cry
• Revolution 9
• Good Night

RELATED SINGLES

• "Hey Jude" / "Revolution," August 30,1968 (Apple)

THE 3M M23

Abbey Road's first eight-track, the M23 was rejected by George Martin for various technical issues. The tape deck remained out of use for months while the studio's technicians modified it to his specifications. Fed up with recording on four-track, The Beatles "liberated" the M23 on September 3, 1968, and used it to record 10 tracks on the White Album.

Photo: The Beatles, 1968—thebeatles.com

In honor of the all-new January 2014 issue of Guitar World — a guide to the Beatles' 50 Greatest Guitar Songs — we're asking you to choose the Beatles song that features what you feel is the all-around best guitar solo.

We've included 20 guitar-centric Beatles songs for you to choose from.

You'll find tunes with fancy fret work by George Harrison ("A Hard Day's Night," "Old Brown Shoe," "Something"), John Lennon ("I Want You (She's So Heavy)") and Paul McCartney ("Taxman," "Good Morning Good Morning") — and all three guitarists at once ("The End").

And, of course, there's one song featuring a very famous non-Beatle named Eric Clapton ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps").

We hope you understand why we haven't included every Beatles song with a guitar solo. For instance, the mini-solo in "I'll Follow the Sun" and the repetitive solo in "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" really have no business in this poll. Having said that, if you truly feel we've left out your absolute favorite, be sure to let us know in the comments below.

The results of the poll will be posted on GuitarWorld.com.

Thank you for voting!

For more info about the new Beatles issue of Guitar World, head to the Guitar World Online Store.

Filming A Hard Day's Night was often a brutal, seven-days-a-week affair that took a lot out of the band and crew.

So one can imagine how Walter Shenson, the film's producer, felt when he pulled John Lennon aside during filming and said, "I'm afraid we're going to need a song called 'A Hard Day's Night,' something up-tempo that can be played over the main titles."

While Lennon wasn't too happy about the request, it turns out he had nothing to worry about; the next morning—10 hours after Shenson had requested the song—Lennon and Paul McCartney performed the finished work for Shenson in Lennon's dressing room.

"Now don't bother us about songs anymore," Lennon told him.

The song's ametrical opening chord is the most beguiling in the band's history. People have been trying to figure it out and/or reproduce it for 51 years.

"We knew it would open both the film and the soundtrack LP, so we wanted a particularly strong and effective beginning," George Martin said. "The strident guitar chord was the perfect launch." It is, in fact, something akin to a G seventh suspended fourth (That or a G7sus4/A are considered the best way to reproduce the chord on a single guitar).

The mystery is caused by the fact that Martin is playing a piano chord atop George Harrison's Fadd9 (or "F with a G on top," as he said in 2001) played on his 12-string Rickenbacker, Lennon's Fadd9 played on his Gibson J-160E and McCartney's bass single note (D) played on his Hofner 500/1.

George Harrison's 12-string Rickenbacker guitar solo was doubled on piano by Martin but tracked at half speed and sped up during mixing. This is why the solo from the studio version of "A Hard Day's Night" was ever-so-unsubtly edited into the otherwise-live version of the song on the Live At The BBC album — and why it never sounds quite right on other live versions.

Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World.

Check out the recently posted trailer for Produced By George Martin, which is coming to DVD and Blu-ray September 11 via Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Produced By George Martin features clips of the artists Martin has produced, plus new interviews with many of them, including Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (both of whom appear in the trailer discussing Beatles sessions), Michael Palin, Jeff Beck, Rolf Harris, Cilla Black, Millicent Martin and Bernard Cribbins.

The DVD version of the film, which was originally broadcast in 2011 as part of the BBC’s Arena series, contains more than 50 minutes of additional interviews not included in the TV version. These extras include contributions from Rick Rubin, T-Bone Burnett, Howard Goodall, Jimmy Webb and Ken Scott.

In the early ‘50s, Martin joined EMI/Parlophone and started working on orchestral music and music for children. He pioneered a range of successful comedy records with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Peter Ustinov and others. In 1962, he signed The Beatles. Martin and The Beatles revolutionized pop music and recording techniques, forging probably the greatest producer/artist collaboration there will ever be.

In commemoration of Fab Four’s 50th Anniversary, author Andrew Grant Jackson has announced the release of his new book, Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of the Beatles’ Solo Careers, from Scarecrow Press, a division of Rowman & Littlefield, now available in stores and online.

You can read exclusive excerpts all this week on John, Paul, George and Ringo only at RollingStone.

Still the Greatest celebrates the high points and often overlooked songwriting and recording achievements of John, Paul, George, and Ringo after each struck out on his own. Jackson creates ongoing, post-1970, Beatles albums mixing together the best of their solo careers, recounting the inspirations, circumstances, players, producers, friends and stories behind the music. Taken together, the chapters add up to an epic odyssey of four musicians who, after changing society, struggled with demons both in themselves and the world outside until finally finding their paths home, each in their own way.

Read stories from the book alongside audio/visual companions, browse conceptual playlists, and check out daily news items, song of the day/clip of the day and immerse yourself all over again in the band that you thought you knew everything about at: www.SoloBeatles.com.

Author Jackson has assessed the over 70 albums and 900 songs collectively released by the Fab Four since since they broke up forty-two years ago (remarkable the group was only together eight years). “There are a dozen brilliant Beatles albums to be carved out of their solo albums,” says Jackson. “We won’t be receiving any new music from the band, but you can create new Beatles albums simply by taking John’s five best tunes from each year, Paul’s five best, and a couple of George and Ringo’s. It’s the same album formula the band employed while together. Everyone from casual listeners to the most well versed of fans can still continue to ‘discover’ The Beatles. And theirs is a story that was only half told at the dawn of 1970.”

In this creative history, the book investigates their explorations of new genres like reggae, funk, disco, and the 80s big drum progressive sound before their later return to their Beatle-esque roots. Lennon brought a new level of soul-searing honesty to the singer songwriter tradition while McCartney filled the airwaves with lushly orchestrated rock operas. Harrison synthesized Indian music, gospel, and Southern blues, mixed it with Phil Spector’s wall of Sound, and conquered the charts with hymns to the Lord while inventing the rock charity concert. And meanwhile, for a stretch, Ringo was second only to McCartney for most consecutive Top 10 singles in the U.S.

Still the Greatest profiles their collaborations with artists like Jeff Lynne, Elvis Costello, Phil Spector, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Joe Walsh, Nashville session masters, their old mentor George Martin, and Radiohead’s producer Nigel Godrich. We see George’s one-two comeback punch of Cloud Nine and the Traveling Wilburys, Ringo’s later albums of sixties-esque jangle pop married to words of hard-won wisdom, and McCartney’s third act resurgence of raw emotion comparable to Dylan and as he turned to music again for catharsis, surprising those who had him pegged as a light pop craftsman.

Both a handy reference and an engrossing cover-to-cover read, Still the Greatest is an invaluable companion for those who thought it all ended with their 1970 album Let It Be.

• About the author:
• Andrew Grant Jackson has written for Yahoo!, music magazines Burn Lounge, Mean Street, and Dispatch, the Hollywood monthly magazine Ingenue, and Baseline’s Studio System, the leading online database and research service for the film and television industries. He directed and co-wrote the feature film The Discontents (2004) starring Perry King and Amy Madigan and served as a Development Associate at actor Jeff Bridges’ AsIs Productions.

Official website: www.solobeatles.com

Become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/solobeatlebook

He’s a full-fledged member of the Eagles, he just played at the Grammys with Paul McCartney, and he owns an enviable collection of vintage guitars. As Joe Walsh drops his new solo album, Analog Man, and hits the road for the Eagles’ 40th anniversary tour, he’s the first to say he can’t complain.

“Hmmm, let’s see now ... the ’57 Gretsch or the ’58 Goldtop?” Joe Walsh contemplates a bevy of highly collectible vintage guitars strewn in open cases across the floor of a Hollywood photo studio. Broad shouldered and looking fit, he towers over the instruments, meditatively stroking his chin.

A Guitar World cover shoot is serious business, and Walsh brings to it consummate professionalism that has guided him through over four and a half decades as a classic-rock guitar legend.

After some deliberation, Walsh selects the “Goldtop” Les Paul for the next round of shots. His wife, Marjorie, a trim blond possessed of mature beauty and a warm, welcoming manner, suggests a garment to go with the instrument, a form-fitting blazer outfitted with rock-star silver lamé trim at the cuffs. Mr. Walsh is ready for his close-up.

In many ways, Walsh seems the living embodiment of his 1978 hit, “Life’s Been Good.” He’s been a central and influential figure in rock music ever since the late Sixties, first as leader of the James Gang, then as a solo artist and as a member of the Eagles. In the latter capacity, Walsh was the man who put rock foremost in the Eagles’ highly successful country-rock sound. His incisive lead guitar work turbocharged hits like “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Hotel California,” the latter being a track that regularly ranks high on lists of the greatest guitar solos ever.

All of Walsh’s many musical virtues are beautifully encapsulated on his new album, Analog Man. It’s rife with the concise, catchy songcraft, understated humor and “regularguy” honesty we’ve come to expect from Walsh, not to mention reams of his sterling guitar work.

Walsh is a quintessential rock guitarist as well as one of the genre’s most distinctive stylists. The choppy, syncopated eloquence of his rhythm playing is as unique as a fingerprint.

As a lead player, he knows how to make a guitar solo ignite instantly and burn hot all the way through. His slide playing is as gracefully idiosyncratic and instantly recognizable as his plaintive, high-pitched vocal style. Hear just a few notes and you immediately know it’s him.

Given the register of his singing voice, it’s somewhat surprising that Walsh speaks in a low, gravely growl. The words come out slowly. He chooses them carefully, pausing between phrases to let their impact sink in.

“It’s been 20 years since my last solo album, so I feel like the time is right,” he says of Analog Man. “I’m really happy with it, really proud of it. Jeff Lynne [ELO, Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty] produced it, which took it in a direction I never would have gone in. And I believe the music is much better for it. It’s an honor and privilege to work with Jeff.”

[[ Joe Walsh appeared on the cover of the May 2012 issue of Guitar World, which contains more new photos by Ross Halfin, plus photos from throughout Walsh's career. It's available now at the Guitar World Online Store ]].

While life has generally been good to Joe Walsh, his road hasn’t always been an easy one. Now 64, he’s suffered the early death of his first-born child, alcohol and drug addiction, and serial divorces. These trials have etched deep lines on a face framed by chin-length hair.

But Walsh seems to have come out on the other end of all his difficulties reasonably intact. He’s been sober since the Nineties, a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner of some years’ standing, and very happily married since 2008 to Marjorie Bach, sister of actress Barbara Bach, who is Ringo Starr’s wife. Ringo is one of several celebrity guest musicians on Analog Man.

The Beatles connection also led to Walsh accompanying Paul McCartney on lead guitar at the 2012 Grammy show.

“When I married Marjorie, along with her I got this very large family and a bunch of family friends,” Walsh says, laughing. “It’s a dynamic I’ve never been around. I’ve always been kind of a loner, and my attempts at domestic life failed miserably. So the family dynamic is a great thing.”

These sentiments are expressed by Walsh in one of Analog Man’s most heartfelt and direct compositions, a ballad simply entitled “Family.”

Vocal harmonies by David Crosby and Graham Nash enhance the mood of easy domesticity. “That’s a favor I called in,” Walsh says of the duo’s participation. “A long time ago, I played on a record they made, and we always talked about how we would some day work on a song together. So I kinda said, ‘I got this song, and remember when I played on your album?’ They made the song really special.”

Walsh’s affable, easygoing manner has won him many friends among rock’s royalty. He’s famous for having bestowed on Jimmy Page the “Number One” 1959 Les Paul Standard that has been integral to Page’s work from Led Zeppelin II onward. It was also Walsh who laid on Pete Townshend the 1959 Gretsch 6120 and 1959 Fender Bandmaster amp that Pete used to create the unforgettable guitar sound on Who’s Next.

“I like to give people equipment and stuff,” Walsh says. “For me, it’s a kind of payback. Anyone who is an influence or hero for me, I’m always concerned with how I can balance the karma.”

• “Joe is extremely generous,” his wife confirms. “Sometimes maybe a little too generous. So I’ve been trying to get some of the great vintage guitars that he’s given away over the years back in his collection. Not the actual guitars, of course, but some of the same models and years.”

“I don’t know how she knows what to get, or how to find it, but she does!” Walsh marvels. “She bought me a ’58 Goldtop, and she found me a ’53 Broadcaster, from before Fender named it Telecaster. And a ’57 Gretsch 6120 like the one I gave Pete! So I’m getting some vintage guitars on the wall.”

Marjorie obviously takes very good care of Joe. Analog Man is dedicated to her, and she played a key role in its creation. It was she who brought Jeff Lynne in the picture and who encouraged Walsh to complete the recording and put it out.

“These songs were kind of a Sunday project that I worked on when I was home during Eagles’ time off,” he explains. “But I never got any momentum going for the past 10 years because the Eagles has been a full-time job. We worked a lot last year. But Marjorie said, ‘You know, you ought to get your shit together and finish this.’”

The title track for Analog Man expresses Walsh’s misgivings about the putative digital wonderland we all supposedly inhabit these days. “It’s an observation, not a judgment,” he says of the song. “I’ve always written observations on the world, and now there’s two of them. The virtual world is a new thing, and it doesn’t really exist, but people are in it a lot. People try to function in the real world — the analog world — while they’re texting in the digital world, and they run into the car in front of them. It doesn’t work to be in both.”

But Walsh is no Luddite. Its title notwithstanding, Analog Man was recorded digitally. “I learned Pro Tools, and the album is digital,” he says. “Those of us who used to record analog have had to make some adjustments.”

True to his self-conferred title of “Analog Man,” however, Walsh was able to wrest a cornucopia of warm, analog-flavored guitar tones from his digital recording rig. “I found this little Fender amp called an FM15,” he says. “It’s a digital amp with sampled amp tones. I’d come out of the headphone jack of that amp into a tube recording preamp and into a hard drive. Do that, and the Pro Tools sees tubes.”

Walsh’s guitars for the album were all analog, of course, notably the aforementioned 1957 Gretsch 6120 plus a selection of Les Pauls, Stratocasters and Telecasters. Walsh has so many guitars he tends not to be overly fussy about vintage years. He just grabs whichever one is closest to hand. His tastes in amps are varied.

For instance the remarkably crisp and present slide guitar sound on the song “Wrecking Ball” was achieved via a 30-watt Peavey amp with a 10-inch speaker.

“That’s what you’re hearing on there,” Walsh elaborates. “I like small amps, not big ones. Another one I’m really fond of is Dr. Z amps. He’s a guy in Cleveland who makes these really great amps. Brad Paisley and I are both really in love with those. And I love Fender Champs, too. An old blackface Champ is actually what I did ‘Funk #49’ on. A blackface Champ and a Tele, straight in.”

“Funk #49” by Walsh’s group the James Gang is one of his signature tracks and, to this day, a garage-band and jam-night staple. With its syncopated rhythms and unison guitar-and-bass riffs, the song earned the James Gang a prominent place among the American power trios that sprang up in the wake of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience as the late Sixties gave way to the early Seventies.

“The James Gang started out doing cover songs,” Walsh says. “And then the next thing for us was to do the beginning of a cover song and then do a five-minute jam in the middle that was different every night. And ‘Funk #49’ was actually a groove that we’d come up with — one of our tools that we would throw into the middle of cover songs. And finally we just wrote some words for it.”

Right from the James Gang’s emergence in 1968, Walsh seemed ahead of the game as a guitarist. He was hot-rodding amps and pickups in an era when that kind of in-depth manipulation of guitar tone was far from commonplace. How did he glom onto all that stuff in the era before the internet or even guitar magazines?

“I discovered amateur radio — ham radio — when I was about 12,” he says. “My parents moved from Ohio to New York City when I was about 11, and I went from vacant lots, BB gun wars, snowball fights and kick-the-can to being in a third-story, two-bedroom apartment in New York City. We moved in the summer.

“I had no friends, school wasn’t in yet, and there was a guy in the apartment building that had an antenna on the roof. I followed the wires to his window and knocked on that apartment’s front door. He let me in, and he was a ham radio operator. So that’s what I did the rest of the summer until school started. And I’ve been a ham-radio operator since 1961.

“Anyway, part of that was learning about electronics. So by the time I really got into guitars and stuff, I already had a basic knowledge of what was going on in terms of the signal — amps and how to fix them and how to tweak them. I’ve kind of always been like that. And I strongly feel that if you’re gonna be a guitar player, you should open yourself up and know about it. I firmly believe that makes you a better musician and a better guitar player.”

Walsh also got in early on what we now call the vintage guitar market. Touring around with the James Gang in the late Sixties and early Seventies, he had access to all kinds of bargains in out-of-the way places. It was a time when guitars from the Fifties and early Sixties commanded very modest prices, often less than the cost of a comparable new guitar.

“The fun for me,” Walsh says, “was being on the road and going to a little pawn shop or music store — not a big chain like Guitar Center but an actual little music store — and seeing what they had, and collecting guitars that way. And then opening them up to see why they sounded the way they did.”

But for all that, Walsh has never been much of a vintage snob. He has a much more utilitarian view of the instrument. “It doesn’t make sense to me to have an old Martin that’s valuable because it’s an old Martin, but the neck is so warped you can’t really play it,” he says. “Or you have a Fifties or early Sixties Stratocaster that you can’t take on the road anymore because it’s too valuable. I’ve never really gotten into collecting that way.”

This lack of preciousness about the instrument is one factor in Walsh’s easygoing ability to give valuable guitars away. Out on the road, friends like Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend came to him as readily as guitars. So why not lay a few axes on his pals?

“The James Gang opened for Led Zeppelin a couple times right at the end of the Yardbirds when Led Zeppelin was together,” Walsh recounts. “Before their first album really hit, they came over and played shows. It was Jimmy Page’s new band. So I started a friendship with him at that time.

“A little bit after that, when the first album really took off, Jimmy was still playing the Telecasters that he played in the Yardbirds. He was looking for a Les Paul and asked if I knew of any, ’cause he couldn’t find one that he liked. And I had two. So I kept the one I liked the most, and I flew to New York with the other one. I laid it on him and said, ‘Try this out.’ He really liked it. So I gave him a really good deal, about 1,200 bucks. I had to hand-carry it; I flew there and everything.

“So whatever my expenses were, that’s what I charged him. That guitar ended up being a significant part of Led Zeppelin’s body of work. But again, I just thought he should have a Les Paul, for godsakes!”

That 1959 Les Paul Standard, Page’s beloved Number One guitar, would go on to forge a considerable chunk of rock history. One thing about the instrument that especially attracted Page was its relatively slim neck contour. Walsh had had the neck shaved by Virgil Lay of Lay’s Guitars in Akron, Ohio.

“Virgil’s a legend among people who knew him,” Walsh says. “Lay’s Guitars would become known for Stay In Tune strings — S.I.T. And he was best friends with Mike Battle, who invented the Echoplex. Virgil was the guy that, if you had a crack in your neck, you’d go there and he’d repair it. Or he would fix violins and stuff.

"He’s kind of a master luthier, with a wood shop and all. So I had Virgil shave the neck of that Les Paul a little. It was a big, fat neck originally, and I didn’t like that. And I think the shaved neck is what Jimmy liked about the guitar. It was kind of a custom neck on a Les Paul.”

It was during the same period that Walsh gave Pete Townshend the 1959 Gretsch 6120 and Fender Bandmaster amp that became the cornerstones of the powerhouse sound he forged on the Who’s landmark album, Who’s Next. To the best of Walsh’s recollection, the Gretsch came from an acoustic guitar shop in Columbus, Ohio, across the street from the World Theater, where the James Gang would often perform. But it was during his time in Europe that Walsh first got friendly with Townshend.

“The James Gang opened for the Who when they performed Tommy in England and in Europe for the first time,” he remembers. “So Pete and I started hanging out. After Tommy, he was playing a Gibson SG and Hiwatt amps. That was his vehicle to present and perform Tommy.

“But he was kind of stuck in that, and I think he wanted to move on. So I figured, Well, a Bigsby should fuck him up pretty good! And that Gretsch was a great guitar. I always found that with an old Gretsch with a Bigsby, when you sit down with it, there are songs in there that will come out that you wouldn’t write without that guitar. And I’m kind of superstitious that way. So I gave him my 6120 and a 3x10 Bandmaster, an old Fender amp that I had. And said, ‘Here.’ And Who’s Next is that.”

Despite the moderate level of success that the James Gang achieved with tracks like “Funk #49,” and “Walk Away,” Walsh decided to leave the band in 1971 and strike off in more of a solo direction. Moving to Colorado, he formed the group Barnstorm, although the band’s recording would be credited to Walsh as a solo artist.

“When I left the James Gang, I wanted a fresh start,” he says. “I didn’t want to stay in Cleveland, where I’d been. Bill Szymczyk, who produced the James Gang and a bunch of other stuff, was in Colorado. So I went there and started the Barnstorm days. Nobody really understood why I quit the James Gang, because we were doing really well, but I didn’t want to be in a three-piece rock and roll band anymore. I thought I was painting myself in a corner, in terms of being a musician. And I wasn’t really crazy about being a grandparent of heavy metal!”

The first release under this new arrangement, 1972’s Barnstorm, didn’t exactly set the world on fire. But the follow-up, 1973’s The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get, became ubiquitous on Seventies FM “Album Rock” radio, buoyed by the signature track “Rocky Mountain Way.”

“That song was just about, ‘Okay, it’s gonna work that I left the James Gang to pursue a solo career,’” Walsh says. “That line, ‘The Rocky Mountain way is better than the way we had’ — it was like, ‘This will be all right after all. It’s not the end of Joe Walsh.’ I didn’t know if it would be or not, but I had to take a shot.”

The track was also a showcase for Walsh’s distinctive slide guitar style, something that would become a key element of his work from that point forward. “Duane Allman had showed me open E tuning and given me a Corcidin bottle, the glass bottle slide that he used,” Walsh says. “So I had been practicing slide guitar for a long time. And ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ was really my coming out song on slide, having learned all that Duane taught me and practiced for a year. That was my ‘Hey, I play slide too!’ song.”

While Walsh started his slide journey with a Corcidin bottle — a receptacle for Corcidin cough syrup, infamous for its potential misuse as a narcotic — he had moved on to a chrome slide to record “Rocky Mountain Way,” applying it to an open-tuned Les Paul through a tweed Fender Champ amp. A consummate slide stylist, his choice of slide materials varies according to the tone he’s after.

“The glass slides are my favorite for George Harrison-y stuff,” he says. “You get the best tone with a glass slide. It’s very sweet. But for harder edged stuff, when you gotta cut above another Les Paul, a big metal slide is the way to go.”

“Rocky Mountain Way” also popularized another key piece of guitar gear: the talk box. Later mass-produced by Bob Heil as the Heil Talk Box, this device would become prevalent in Seventies guitar rock, adopted by everyone from Jeff Beck to Peter Frampton. But on “Rocky Mountain Way,” Walsh played what is arguably the first talk box ever.

“I was friends with Dottie West, the country singer, and her family,” he explains. “And any time the James Gang played Nashville, we’d go over to Dottie’s. A bunch of songwriters and people like Chet Atkins would come over and we’d pass the guitar around and everybody would have a play. It was a traditional Nashville kind of a thing. And Dottie’s husband was Bill West, a great pedal-steel player but also an inventor.

“He had invented the talk box by placing a speaker driver, the back part of a speaker, in a cardboard box and connecting a piece of surgical tubing to it. So the sound came up the surgical tubing.

"Then he wrapped the cardboard box in electrical tape. A guy named Pete Drake used it once in the Fifties for a song called ‘Forever,’ and then it went back in Bill West’s garage for 20 years. So we were at Dottie’s with her family and all, passing guitars around.

“Bill came out of the garage and gave this thing to me. I said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘Well, just take it home and plug it in, put the tubing in your mouth and plug it into your speaker jack. I don’t know exactly what it is.’

“Of course, I had to see how it was built, so I took it apart. And I was hanging out with Bob Heil at the time, ’cause he’s a ham operator. He had a sound company back then. He did all the Who shows in the U.S. And so we had a look at this thing, and Bob decided he had a good way to make ’em, so he put out his version of it. But the real one I still have — except the tube smells so horrible that nobody can use it.

“And then Peter Frampton came to me and said, ‘How the hell did you get that sound?’ I explained it to him, and he used it on his song “Show Me the Way,” and big things happened for him. He trademarked that sound.”

By 1975, however, Walsh had tired of being a solo artist. He was ready for another momentous and risky career shift. As when he left the James Gang, he found himself in a time of change, uncertainty and trepidation.

But once again, everything would work out fine: he joined the Eagles. “When you gain an amount of success,” he says, “a lot of nonmusical things come along that you don’t really think about before the success. You’re too busy trying to survive. It’s
nice when you get some money, get famous a little bit and get recognized. But as a solo artist, that comes with a lot of nonmusical things.

“There’s the business side of it — the hiring and firing, payroll and all of that. Not to mention the pressure of writing something that’s gonna make the next album as big as the one that got you there. And I found myself feeling alone and creatively a little stagnant. I’d had a good run as a solo artist, and I was thinking, God, it would be really good to be in a band again.”

Walsh had become friendly with the Eagles on the road, having shared bills with the hugely popular country-rock group on numerous occasions. They also shared the same manager, Irving Azoff.

Around that time, Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon, a country purist, had become uncomfortable with the more rock direction that the band’s principal songwriters, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, wanted to take.

“So when Bernie decided that he just wasn’t interested very much in continuing,” Walsh says, “Don and Glenn thought I would plug in really well with where the Eagles were eventually going to go. And at the time I was going, ‘Aw fuck, it’s time to do another solo album. Oh shit. Anybody got any ideas?’ You know? So it all just kind of came together, I joined the Eagles and the result, of course, was Hotel California.”

A landmark album, and arguably the Eagles’ greatest ever, Hotel California offered an eloquent depiction of the decadence and ennui of L.A. culture in the late Seventies. Walsh’s hard-edged rock sensibility was integral to the album’s aesthetic and appeal. Among his songwriting contributions was the signature guitar riff for the hit “Life in the Fast Lane.”

“That was actually a coordination drill that I’d come up with on guitar to warm up to play live,” he says. “I was just playing it one time and Don Henley goes, ‘What the hell is that!’ Well, it was just an idea floating around. With the Eagles, we would all bring in bits and pieces of music, throw them in a big pile and sort through them.

“Don and Glenn got a hold of that ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ riff. Glenn kinda arranged it, and we did a demo of it. Then Don had the idea of ‘life in the fast lane.’ He put the words together, and we recorded it for real. And then Don Felder and I figured out the guitar work. Once we knew it was an Eagles song, they turned me loose a little bit.”

Walsh and Eagles co-guitarist Don Felder coalesced into a formidable team. “We worked really well together,” Walsh says. “It was competitive. We brought out the best in each other. He would play something, and I’d get an attitude like, ‘Oh yeah? Listen to this.’ And he’d go, ‘Wow, listen to this!’ We would work that way. You can kind of hear that.”

The apotheosis of Walsh and Felder’s guitar magic with the Eagles is unquestionably “Hotel California.” Central to the symbol-laden epic track’s mood of desperation and la dolce vita gone slightly sour is the artful tapestry of intertwined guitar leads that Walsh and Felder weave throughout the track, bursting into Technicolor brilliance in the extended outro solo section. They trade licks for a while, then merge in glorious harmony. “Hotel California” had begun as a 12-string acoustic demo that Felder had put together.

The Eagles began to craft an arrangement, using the working title “Mexican Reggae.” After Henley came up with the song’s masterful lyric, Felder and Walsh were once again let loose.

“Don had his distinct part and I had my distinct part in the body of the song,” Walsh recounts. “And we thought, What if we merged those together? And that was the dual guitar work that develops during the course of the song. Felder had a lot of ways to go with it, and I tried to focus on that.”

The track’s unforgettable dual-guitar harmonies were played live in the studio by Walsh and Felder. “We took a couple of hours to work all those harmonies out and put them on,” Walsh says. “But over that we did individual solos. Like I said, Felder and I were competitive, but in a good way.”

To the best of Walsh’s recollection, he played a Telecaster on “Hotel California,” while Felder played a Les Paul, and of course the 12-string acoustic part. “We always tried to have a single-coil and a humbucker as the personalities of the guitars,” Walsh explains.

“We found that with two Les Pauls, you couldn’t really hear either of them, and two single-coils was too thin. So I ended up being the single-coil guy on ‘Hotel California.’”

From the late Seventies up to the present, Walsh has alternated between work with the Eagles and solo projects. In 1978, he was back in the limelight with another signature solo track, “Life’s Been Good,” a comedically understated account of stardom that went a long way toward establishing his persona as an ordinary guy who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances.

The song’s verses also bear witness to an abiding interest in reggae on Walsh’s part. But Walsh might never have recorded or released this classic had it not been for the intervention of some friends.

“Sometimes musicians write songs just for themselves,” he says, “and they don’t really intend to record or release a song like that, or necessarily have anybody even hear it. That’s how it was with ‘Life’s Been Good.’ I wrote these words. They were lying around for a while and I just happened to show them to Bill Szymczyk and my friend Joe Vitale, who was the drummer for Barnstorm and now plays with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Joe and Bill both said, ‘You gotta make a song out of this!’”

Walsh’s new album, Analog Man, contains what is essentially a sequel to “Life’s Been Good,” a song entitled “Lucky That Way.” It is one of several songs on the new disc that the guitarist co-wrote with tunesmith Tommy Lee James, who has penned numerous country hits for artists like Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood and Taylor Swift. Walsh and James were brought together by Barbara Orbison, widow of rock and roll legend Roy Orbison.

“Tommy and I got along really well right from the start,” Walsh says. “And he actually brought in a verse for ‘Lucky That Way.’ He said, ‘I don’t know if you’re gonna like this, but I kinda wrote it with you in mind.’ From there, I just filled in the verses with situational stuff that was relevant to my life. But that really was a gift from Tommy Lee James. And, you know, the last verse is really true. In my experience in the music business, if you kind of pretend that you know what you’re doing, everybody thinks you know what you’re doing. So I have been kind of lucky that way. I haven’t been busted yet.”

With close friends like John Entwistle, Keith Moon and others long since dead of alcohol- and drug-related causes, Walsh is indeed lucky simply to still be around. He got sober in the Nineties, and two songs on Analog Man — “Wrecking Ball” and “One Day at a Time” — deal with the themes of addiction and recovery.

“I used to do all that stuff,” Walsh says. “Those of us from the Seventies who are still here just outgrew all of that. But in the music business, and in Hollywood in general, the party never stopped. A lot of these young celebrities are on parole. So ‘Wrecking Ball’ is addressed to the people who are partying in the 21st century.

“And in ‘One Day at a Time,’ I just wrote about my experience of getting sober. The one thing that made a difference in my life is Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s a tradition of AA that you don’t flaunt the program in media, records, television and stuff. But I had to make an exception in writing about getting sober and what happened to me. I kinda thought somebody should.”

Of course, many of Walsh’s rock and roll peers are still around and doing quite well, including Paul McCartney. At their Grammy appearance, they played “My Valentine” from Sir Paul’s new album, Kisses on the Bottom, as well as the three-guitar rave-up “The End,” from the Beatles’ Abbey Road, for which they were joined by Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and, from McCartney’s own band, Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray.

“For ‘The End,’ it was just two-bar phrases,” Walsh points out. “So there wasn’t time to think. Just be ready. ’Cause as soon as you say something, you’re done.”

Given the roster of legendary musical artists with whom Walsh has worked, is there any one left on his wish list? He ponders the question a while before answering.

“Gosh darn, I really would have loved to play at a Ray Charles session,” he says. “Opportunities still come up for me to play with musicians and singers I really admire. But I don’t have anyone specific in mind at the moment. About what’s left for me now is to work at my craft. I’m blessed to be able to play my music, instead of somebody else’s music, in front of people. And I always try to tell young musicians that there’s life after addiction and it’s good. It’s been a great journey for me so far. I’m just this analog guy gettin’ used to this digital world. And I’m not done yet!”

Photo: Ross Halfin

Joe Walsh appears on the cover of the May 2012 issue of Guitar World, which is available now at the Guitar World Online Store.