Beatles Bits: Weekly news roundup



Paul McCartney, on tour in Australia and New Zealand, became the first Beatle to scale the Sydney Harbor Bridge.


The rock legend's effort on Wednesday afternoon local time was made all the more impressive given his 75-years of age.

More impressive still was the fact he managed the 2-hour climb to the top after going all-out for an epic three-hour concert on Monday night.

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A homemade Christmas recording given to his fellow Beatles by Paul McCartney has generated an astounding amount of attention this month, despite it being A) available on bootlegs for several years B) boring. Even Rolling Stone got into the act, posting a video of the bootleg audio.

For decades, all that was known about the recording were sketchy details provided by McCartney himself. "It was called Unforgettable and it started with Nat 'King' Cole singing 'Unforgettable,'" he explained to historian Mark Lewisohn in 1995.
 
"Then I came in over the top as the announcer: 'Yes, unforgettable, that's what you are! And today in Unforgettable ...' It was like a magazine program: full of weird interviews, experimental music, tape loops, some tracks I knew the others hadn't heard. It was just a compilation of odd things."
 
The unearthed portion includes an inventive selection of songs by the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and Martha and the Vandellas, with McCartney assuming the role of a fast-talking New York DJ – perhaps a nod to the so-called "Fifth Beatle," Murray the K.

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A Paul McCartney-signed copy of the Sgt. Pepper anniversary box set raised £3.3K for victims of the May bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.

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The "limited edition" box of Beatles Christmas messages is officially available today (Dec. 15).  You can order it from the official Beatles page here.

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