BEATLES MAGAZINE

Saturday, 20 June 2026

PETER ASHER: "I REJECT SOUNDLY ANY IMPLICATION THAT I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR BREAKING UP THE BEATLES"

Peter Asher shared his memories in front of a live audience.

Photo: Peter Asher
In the new documentary Peter Asher: Everywhere Man, which chronicles the life and professional journey of the musician-turned-art-dealer-turned-legendary-producer, 82-year-old Peter Asher—famously one component of the 1960s musical pair Peter and Gordon—reflects on his lasting influence within the music industry. The documentary highlights his accomplishments, such as the chart-topping 1964 smash "A World Without Love," written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and explores the significant role that the Indica bookstore—and, by association, the collective of Asher, Peter Dunbar, and Barry Miles—played in facilitating the meeting of one of rock history's most iconic couples.

"John Dunbar was made aware of this Japanese American artist who was Yoko Ono," Miles recalls in the documentary. "And he thought she sounded suitably interesting and wacky to be in our avant garde gallery." "And then, of course, famously, when we were hanging a show, that was one of the days that John Lennon showed up in is little wide wheelbase Mini with a chauffeur," Miles continues.

A clip is then shown of John Lennon and Yoko Ono making an appearance on British journalist David Frost's long-running talk show. In it, John Lennon describes the genesis of his connection with Ono.

"They were having a show at this gallery, and she had all these things, all these hammer nail things, Lennon says, recounting his first encounter with Ono. "There was this ladder on a thing on the ceiling. So I climbed the ladder, and on the ceiling it said 'Yes.' If it had said 'No,' then I would have carried on with my preconceived ideas about art and artists.... But it said 'Yes,' and that was enough, you know. That was how we met actually."

Following the footage being projected onto the screen while Asher recounts anecdotes before a live crowd, the attendees break into applause. Subsequently, Asher provides a comical concluding remark to Lennon’s reminiscence.

"Thank you," Asher says. "It's very interesting. That was a nice little round of applause. Sometimes it's a 'awww,' you know, like, what a great love story. But other times, it's a 'grrr.' "

He continues: "And the most dramatic one, which has only happened once, but it was quite startling when it did, was as soon as the clip was over, John said, 'and that's when we met,' some bloke in the audience jumped to his feet, pointed at me, and yelled at the top of his voice, 'It was you! You broke up the Beatles!' "

As the audience erupts in laughter, Asher adds, "I reject soundly any implication that I was responsible for breaking up the Beatles."

Peter Asher: Everywhere Man opens June 19 in New York and June 26 in L.A. and other cities.

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Thursday, 18 June 2026

PAUL McCARTNEY: "I GO TO THE GYM, DO A BIT OF PILATES. IT’s GOOD”


“When I wrote When I’m 64, I was thinking, ‘64? Oh, my God, that’s so old.’ And then I go, oh, I’m 64. Oh, now I’m 74 and now I’m going to be 84.”

Paul prioritizes his well-being by maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle and practicing Pilates, which he believes are the keys to his physical fitness

He said: “These days, I do a bit of exercise. You know, whereas at school, I hated physical education. Now I go to the gym, do a bit of Pilates. It’s good.”

With his latest release, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, the musician has achieved his 24th UK number one album; he expressed great delight regarding the enthusiastic response from his fanbase.

He said: “Yeah, we are well chuffed.

“If you do something, you want people to like it, and if people like it enough to send it to number one, you know they like it.”

Paul recently described himself as a 'playaholic,' noting that he doesn't view his music career as actual work.

Speaking to Zane Lowe in an interview for Apple Music, he said: “People say, ‘Oh you’re a workaholic’ and I say, ‘We don’t work music, we play it, so I’m a playaholic!

“I hate it when making music starts to feel like work.”

Zane then remarked that music producer Brian Eno had made an “almost identical” comment in a recent interview with him.

Paul said: “I saw your thing about Brian Eno and he says this, he says this thing about ‘playtime’ and I go ‘that’s… he’s nicked it, he’s heard me say it!’

“Because I’m always saying that! He’s taking all my lines, this guy!”


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Monday, 15 June 2026

ON THIS DAY JUNE 15 ...

June 15

1961 Performance at the Top Ten Club, Hamburg.

1962 The Beatles at Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime and evening)

5.00-5.29pm. BBC's 'Here We Go' broadcast (recorded 11 June 1962).

Lunch and evening: Performance at the Cavern, with the Soiderman.

1963

'Please Please Me' LP number 1, 6th week (UK Record Retailer chart).

Performance at City Hall, Fisherton Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire.

1964

US single release: 'Nobody I Know', with Peter and Gordon.

A tape of the Beatles in concert is played on an Australian radio programme called 'Beatles Show' (recorded 12 June 1964, in Adelaide).

Two performances at the Festival Hall, Melbourne. Ringo is back on drums.

1965

Studio 2. 2.30-5.30pm. Recording: 'It's Only Love' (takes 1-6). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Norman Smith; 2nd Engineer: Phil McDonald.

'Daily Mirror' headline: 'Two MBEs sent back because of Beatles'.

1966

'Rubber Soul', 28th week in the Top 10 (UK New Musical Express chart).
'Paperback Writer', 1st week in the ranking (UK New Musical Express chart)

US LP release: ''Yesterday'... And Today', with original butcher's cover.

1967

US gold certification: 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

1968

John and Yoko appear on the 'National Sculpture Exhibition', at the Coventry Cathedral. Peace acorns are planted outside Coventry Cathedral.

1969

'The Ballad Of John And Yoko' number 1.

1971 Recording: Thrillington by Paul and Linda McCartney

1974

Wings rehearse in Nashville. Wings' Denny Seiwell is replaced by Geoff Britton on drums.

1979: Filming: Baby’s Request by Wings.

The shoot took place at Camber Sands in East Sussex, England, under the direction of Keith "Keef" McMillan.

During that same week, McMillan also filmed promotional videos for several other tracks from the Back To The Egg album.

1992 Ringo and his All-Stars band's concert at the Pine Knob Music Theater, Clarkston, Michigan.

1993

1995: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Sendai Sun Plaza, Sendai

2000: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Mountain Winery, Saratoga

2006: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Casino Rama, Rama

2009: Paul McCartney launches Meat Free Mondays campaign

2011: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Sala Kongresowa, Warsaw

2012: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Avalon Theatre, Niagara Falls

2014: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence

2016: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: St George Theatre, New York City

2018: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Rock i Lunden

2023: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles

2025: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: TD Pavilion at the Mann, Philadelphia

Paul's concert at the Blockbuster Pavillion, Charlotte, North Carolina ('The New World Tour', end of American tour). Televised live.

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Friday, 12 June 2026

PAUL McCARTNEY: "I’M THINKING ABOUT 84…”

Photo: Ben Gibson At a sold-out event held this past Wednesday at London's Roundhouse—a renowned multi-arts space and youth charity located in Camden—fans gathered to hear the musician offer intimate insights into his creative process. During the evening, he candidly admitted that he frequently lacks a concrete plan when writing songs, a approach he wears as a badge of honor.

The presentation was moderated by comedian Rob Brydon, who guided the audience through the night as the artist’s latest record, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, was played in its entirety. The listening experience was punctuated by McCartney himself, who interspersed the tracks with personal stories, thoughtful reflections, and spontaneous acoustic guitar performances.

The primary focus of the evening centered on the narrative arc behind his new collection of songs. Throughout the session, Paul explored the inspirations for the album, detailing how the project serves as a nostalgic chronicle of memories drawn from his own youth.

"I don't want to know any rules because that’s the fun of it," Paul said.

McCartney added that he has a "hard time doing down songs" because "it’s just not me".

"Positive songs I really like. If I’ve got a down song, I’ll suddenly try and lift it, give it a happy ending or something."

Speaking about his Beatles co-songwriter, the late John Lennon, he added: "I look back and I just think, 'wow’.

"We met in Liverpool just as a couple of kids.

"People would say, ‘what do you do?’ and I said, ‘well I like writing songs’ and most people would go ‘oh, yeah, what football team do you support?’

"But when I met John, I said ‘oh I like writing songs’ and he said ‘so do I!’

"He was the first person I’d met who ever said that."

Paul explained how his track Down South was about hitchhiking holidays he used to take with his late bandmate George Harrison, who he praised as being someone who grew into a very "erudite, smart guy, very spiritual, very beautiful guy".

He said: "We had some great times together.

"Besides, this was all before The Beatles, so this really gave The Beatles its strength.

"We knew each other really well."

Reflecting on the success of the band, he said: "I can look back on it now like I’m a major fan.

"When you’re doing it, you’ve got to be a bit modest. But once it’s all done, you don’t have to be modest at all!

"So I do enjoy looking back on those memories."

Later, he mentioned his vegetarianism and Pilates, and reflected: “I wrote ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ thinking: ‘64! My God, how old! And then I thought: “Ah, I’m 64! Wait, I’m 74!”. And now I’m thinking about 84…’”

Brydon asked him, “Is your hearing still good?”, to which McCartney replied: “It can be a bit hit-and-miss. Sometimes I hear pretty well, but the thing is, you miss a few words, so it can be a bit weird.”

Photo: Ben Gibson
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Sunday, 7 June 2026

ON THIS DAY JUNE 7 ...

On this day...June 7

1963

The Beatles appeared on the live television show ‘Round-Up’ lip-synching to “From Me To You.”

Concert at the Odeon, Glasgow (3rd British tour).

1965

10.00-12.00am. BBC's 'The Beatles (Invite You To Take A Ticket To Ride)' broadcast (recorded 26 May 1965).

Last BBC session broadcast.

1967

Announcement to the press that the Beatles have accepted the 'Yellow Submarine' project.

Studio 2. 7.00pm-2.00am. Recording: 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)' (overdub onto take 9, takes 20-24). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Richard Lush.

'You Know My Name' session May 17, 1967

1968

George and Ringo fly to Hollywood as guest artists for a Ravi Shankar film. 1st trip of a Beatle out of England while sessions are in progress. Michael McCartney marries.

1969

'Yellow Submarine' LP, 21st and last week in the Top 100 (Billboard).

'Get Back' number 1, 3rd week; 5th week in the Top 30 (Billboard). John and Yoko appear on the 'David Frost Show'.

1976

US LP release: 'Rock'n'Roll Music'.

1991

Paul's concert at the St Austell Colosseum, England.

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