Now And Then is not the last unused Beatle demo available. We have a whole album’s worth — Now And Then was promoted as the last Beatles song. The implication is that no more Beatle or solo Beatle demos are available. This isn’t correct. There are in fact, quite a few candidates for ‘new’ Beatle songs now the technology to recover roughly recorded demos such as Now And…

The Father of Rock pulled together several influences to influence everyone who followed him — If, like me, you thought Chuck Berry got his unique rock and roll sound from Marty McFly in Back To The Future, think again. For almost every rock musician who came after Berry, rock music began with The Father of Rock and Roll; Chuck Berry. But it wasn’t quite like…

A tiny quibble can escalate into a great dispute if not dealt with — “May the Lord protect us from the Lord Protector.” William Paget mumbled under his breath while he hurried along the dark corridors of Somerset House. The putrid smell of the River Thames ebbed in through the open diamond-latticed leaded windows and assailed Paget’s nostrils. The shouts of the rivermen mixed…

Four brilliant London songs you may not know. Then again, you might — The packing is underway, removal quotes are in and the countdown is on for the grand return home from Spain—home as in London. It’s therefore time for some London songs to get in the mood for the drizzle, grey skies, the vagaries of the British National Health Service and of…

Let ’em in, let it out and let it be — This story employs 78 embedded Paul McCartney song titles and references. Can you get them all without looking at the answers at the bottom? Yesterday began as just another day: until it wasn’t. The calico skies above this eastern suburb on the grey edge of London Town grew heavy with…

Is the new Beatles song really Lennon's last solo song completed 45 years later with a little help from his friends? — Beatles fanatics have known about Lennon’s not-quite-finished demo Now And Then for many years. The song is a typical solo Lennon ballad in both lyrical style and musical composition. Lennon’s demo recording of Now And Then was made in his Dakota Building home in New York but first appeared widely…

The Devil has all the best tunes. Or so they say — Does the Devil have all the best songs? I don’t think so but there are a lot of great songs that have Devil in the title. And why does my song list have London in the title? That’s because I’m gearing up to return home from Spain and I want…

And it came via international parcel post. It took its time: I’ve been waiting 3 months — It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a three-CD live set by Bruce Springsteen is in exceedingly good fortune. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that if this three-CD set is the official recording of the Springsteen concert that a man attended with his son…

The Gibb Brothers were the most successful family band in pop history — I know, I know. A family band known as the Kings of Disco that lasted for 45 years and was only broken up by a brother’s death doesn’t appear to be rock or feudin’ like the title suggests but bear with me. [You can find Parts 1, 2, 3 and…