$59,750.00 was the winning bid for this very famous set of autographs from all four of The Beatles, during their visit with Elvis on August 27th, 1965.
The auction was held on April 5th at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. I was talking to my friend at FansOnTheRun about what a big deal it is for Beatle fans, so we decided to verify the story.
It took some searching, but we finally found a link that confirms the story that this indeed was a valid auction sale. It was lot #30321 in Heritage entertainment memorabilia auction #688 described as Beatles’ Autographs on Elvis’ Personal Stationery - August 27, 1965.
As the story goes…The Beatles were scheduled to play the Balboa Stadium in San Diego and Elvis was filming Paradise, Hawaiian Style in Hollywood. On the night of August 27, 1965, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived at Elvis’s house in Bel Air, where Elvis personally greeted them at the door for what became known as the “summit meeting” of pop music and rock and roll.
During that meeting Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis’s “Memphis Mafia,” got the autographs of all four Beatles on a 5″ …

Do you remember John Lennon’s “lost weekend?” Most fans don’t. That so called “lost weekend” lasted 18 months, from 1973 to 1975, when Lennon split from Yoko in New York and headed to L.A.
Ono hooked John up with a former personal assistant by the name of May Pang, who has just released a book of personal photos from that lost weekend era. This is actually her second book, which is really just a collection of photos.
It’s interesting to note that Cynthia and Julian Lennon have endorsed the book, called Instamatic Karma. I personally love the name; it’s a great play on words. And of course, the book has created a big buzz. But what I really like about this time period of John’s life is that he really got back into his music, and also collaborated with many other artists too.
Not only did he record three hit albums; Mind Games, Rock n’ Roll, and Walls and Bridges, but Lennon also recorded and worked with David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Mick Jagger, and Ringo Starr. He also performed with Elton John in 1974, in what I believe may be his last concert performance.
Whatever Gets You …

I was reading another one of the many stories about the Beatles music being available on iTunes, which turned about to be just another rumor. These are all over the internet but Sony music, who owns the licensing, denies any of these stories as true. At the end of this particular story on applesource, there’s a chart showing the best selling music artists of all time. It caught my eye as an interesting mix of artists, many of whom I would not associate together, but this list is based only on sales.
The 10 best-selling music acts of all time based on millions of albums & singles sold: (Source: Recording Industry Association of America)
The Beatles - 191 million
Elvis Presley - 168.5 million
Garth Brooks - 128.5 million
Led Zeppelin - 112 million
The Eagles - 101.5 million
Elton John - 91 million
Billy Joel - 83.5 million
Barbra Streisand - 78 million
Madonna - 78 million
Mariah Carey - 76.5 million
Pink Floyd - 75.5 million
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Mike Smith, lead vocalist for The Dave Clark Five, just recently passed away on February 28th. Not only did he sing lead, but he also played piano and organ for the group, and co-wrote a lot of the band’s hits. The DC5 gave The Beatles their first competition on the hit charts in the early sixties.
I remember playing the grooves off their American Tour record. It was my only Dave Clark Five album, and still my favorite today. I liked their slow ballads like “Because” and the saxophone parts on the up tempo songs.
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George Harrison (February 25, 1943 - November 29, 2001) would be celebrating another birthday with us if cancer hadn’t claimed him in 2001. Let’s honor his spirit with a hearty “Hare Krishna” and celebrate his amazing life of music.
Wikipedia Bio
Official Website
DVD: The Concert for George
Book: A Celebration of the Life of George Harrison
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Who were the Grammy Award winners 40 years ago?
The 10th Grammy Awards were (for recordings in the year 1967:)
Album of the Year: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles,
George Martin (producer)
Record of the Year: “Up, Up and Away” by The 5th Dimension,
Johnny Rivers & Marc Gordon (producers)
Song of the Year: “Up, Up and Away” by the 5th Dimension,
Jimmy L. Webb (songwriter)
Contemporary Album:
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts:
Peter Blake, Jann Haworth for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Best Engineered Recording:
G.E. Emerick for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Contemporary Single, Contemporary Vocal Group AND Group Vocal Performance:
“Up, Up, and Away” by the 5th Dimension
Best New Artist - Best Vocal Performance, Female AND Female Contemporary Vocal Solo: Bobbie Gentry for “Ode to Billie Joe” (she bested Jefferson Airplane and the 5th Dimension, who were also nominated in the New Artist catagory)
Best Comedy Performance: Bill Cosby for his Revenge album
Best Country & Western Performance Duet, Trio or Group:
Johnny Cash & June Carter for “Jackson”
Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Female AND Best Rhythm & Blues Recording:
Aretha Franklin for “Respect”
Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male: Lou Rawls for “Dead End …

25 Cirque du Soleil dancers and acrobats from The Beatles LOVE show at The Mirage in Las Vegas will perform “A Day in the Life,” live at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
The Beatles LOVE album has been nominated for 2 Grammys, in the categories of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album. The special remix of Beatles music was masterfully redone in 5.1 surround sound by Sir George Martin and his son Giles, at Abbey Road Studios.
The awards show airs on CBS February 10th at 5pm PST from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with special hosts Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Cole, Cyndi Lauper and Juanes, presenting.
Performing: Foo Fighters (with special guest conductor John Paul Jones 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood; Beyoncé; and Rihanna with a reunited the Time in a special 50th anniversary segment.
The CBS Television Network will be broadcasting the show in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound. The show will also be supported worldwide on radio via Westwood One and XM Satellite Radio, and online at GRAMMY.com/
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According to Billboard Magazine, the hit record charts looked something like this in 1968:
Hot 100 Singles:
“Hey Jude” - The Beatles *
“Love is Blue (L’Amour Est Bleu)” - Paul Mauriat *
“(What A) Wonderful World” - Louis Armstrong *
“(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” - Otis Redding *
“Honey” - Bobby Goldsboro
“People Got To Be Free” - The Rascals *
Hot R&B Singles:
“Say It Loud - I’m Black and I’m Proud” - James Brown
“Slip Away” - Clarence Carter *
“(Sittin’ On The) Dock of the Bay” - Otis Redding *
“Grazing In The Grass” - Hugh Masekela *
“You’re All I Need To Get By” - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Hot Country Songs:
“Folsom Prison Blues” - Johnny Cash *
“Skip A Rope” - Henson Cargill
“D-I-V-O-R-C-E” - Tammy Wynette
“Mama Tried” - Merle Haggard
“A World Of Our Own” - Sonny James
*I’ve got eight in my memory. How many of these do YOU remember?
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No that’s not a misprint. We’re flashing back to that classic time, January 1968, to see what was happening 40 years ago in music & pop culture. And baby, it was happening!!
Events in January 1968:
The Beatles launch Apple Corps, Ltd., including their own recording studio, record label and fashion boutique in London. Apple Records was the only division that ever made money, while the clothing shop went bust the next year and eventually gave away remaining stock. Other artists that signed to the label included Badfinger and James Taylor.
Gibson Guitars patents it’s own Flying V electric guitar design. Actually, Gibson’s website shows the original design came about 10 years earlier, in 1958, with the “V Factor” as the standard, from 1967.
Concerts:
Johnny Cash performs at Folsom Prison in California. The “live” album is released later that year. It was chosen by the Library of Congress in 2003 to be added to the National Recording Registry.
Albums:
“We’re Only in It For the Money” is released on Verve Records by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. The album poked fun at the flower power generation of hippies, the Summer of Love, …

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on October 9, 1940, and assassinated on December 8, 1980 in New York City. He would be 67 today. But his musical legacy lives forever on CD, DVD and online.
John Lennon’s solo works available in digital download:
amazon.com
iTunes
Official Website
Cool Video @ imaginepeace.com
CD:
“Working Class Hero - The Definitive Lennon” Double CD set features 38 songs
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon
The John Lennon Collection
DVD:
Beatles Anthology 5-DVD box set
Imagine (Deluxe Edition)
Lennon Legend - The Very Best of John Lennon
I love these lyrics from Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
I wish we could add the part about war is over.
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Born in 1942, the former Beatle passed away on this date (November 29th) in 2001. My friend Nellie O’Apple at FansOnTheRun posted a cool YouTube video that’s the perfect tribute to George Harrison, the man and his music.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is from the Concert For George, at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2002, a year after Harrison passed away from cancer. Performed by an all-starr cast including Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, featuring Eric Clapton on lead guitar, with Dhani Harrison looking like a very young George on stage.
God Bless You, George. All Things Must Pass into Love & Peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC1EZcrZEIs

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