The Beatles in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

In addition to all the Beatles stuff at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, there is a special exhibit - Lennon: His life and work - This exhibit focuses on one of the true legends of rock and roll: John Lennon. It is the first major exhibit in America to celebrate John Lennon, and it is the largest exhibit the Hall of Fame has ever devoted to one artist.

"John Lennon didn't invent rock and roll, nor did he embody it as toweringly as figures like Elvis Presley and Little Richard, but he did more than anyone else to shake it up, move it forward and instill it with a conscience." - Tidbit from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Help! Behind the Scenes of the Beatles' Movie opened with a members-only reception on November 16, 2007. The exhibit, which is timed to the November 6 release of the film on DVD, includes many never-before-seen artifacts and set photography shot during the making of the movie.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum pays homage to the Beatles' impact on our culture with a new exhibit that commemorates the group's classic 1965 movie, Help! Runs through September 1, 2008. Help exhibit

The impact of the Beatles upon popular music cannot be overstated; they revolutionized the music industry and touched the lives of all who heard them in deep and fundamental ways. Landing on these shores on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its head, setting the musical agenda for the remainder of the decade.... More information

Paul McCartney was the first of the Beatles to work on an extracurricular recording project (the soundtrack to the 1966 film The Family Way) and also the first to release a bonafide solo album of songs (McCartney, which appeared as the Beatles were dissolving in 1970). McCartney has been the most prolific ex-Beatle and has also enjoyed the greatest measure of commercial success.

Between his work with the Beatles and as a solo artist and leader of Wings, McCartney has written or co-written more than 50 Top Ten singles.

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George Harrison was known as the quiet Beatle, and he was also the quietest ex-Beatle. His was not the way of the rock star, as he neither courted nor relished fame. Yet his seeming diffidence was deceptive, as he left behind an impressive legacy as a solo artist. Harrison's 11 solo albums (not counting best-of's) include the masterful All Things Must Pass (1970) and a memorable late-career milestone, Cloud Nine (1987). He was the first Beatle to tour as a solo artist and the only one to start his own label (Dark Horse Records).
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The Concert for Bangladesh was the first major benefit concert of its kind and paved the way for Live Aid, Farm Aid, Live 8 and the other rock benefit events that came later. The Concert for Bangladesh brought together an extraordinary group of major artists collaborating for a common humanitarian cause. Organized by George Harrison, the event sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City, generated millions of dollars for UNICEF and raised awareness for the organization and the humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh around the world. The concert also resulted in a Grammy-winning triple-album box set and feature film.
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This was a letter that Paul wrote to John at his induction to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
John was murdered in 1980.

Dear John,

I remember when we first met, at Woolton, at the village fete. It was a beautiful summer day and I walked in there and saw you on stage. And you were singing "Come Go With Me," by the Dell Vikings, but you didn't know the words so you made them up. "Come go with me to the penitentiary. " It's not in the lyrics.

I remember writing our first songs together. We used to go to my house, my dad's home, and we used to smoke Ty-Phoo tea with the pipe my dad kept in a drawer. It didn't do much for us but it got us on the road. We wanted to be famous.

I remember the visits to your mum's house. Julia was a very handsome woman, very beautiful woman. She had long, red hair and she played a ukulele. I'd never seen a woman that could do that. And I remember having to tell you the guitar chords because you used to play the ukulele chords.

And then on your 21st birthday you got 100 pounds off one of your rich relatives up in Edinburgh, so we decided we'd go to Spain. So we hitchhiked out of Liverpool, got as far as Paris, and decided to stop there, for a week. And eventually got our haircut, by a fellow named Jurgen, and that ended up being the "Beatle haircut."

I remember introducing you to my mate George, my schoolmate, and getting him into the band by playing "Raunchy" on the top deck of a bus. You were impressed. And we met Ringo who'd been working the whole season at Butlin's camp-he was a seasoned professional- but the beard had to go, and it did.

Later on we got a gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, which was officially a blues club. We didn't really know any blues numbers. We loved the blues but we didn't know any blues numbers, so we had announcements like "Ladies and gentleman, this is a great Big Bill Broonzy number called "Wake Up Little Suzie." And they kept passing up little notes-"This is not the blues, this is not the blues. This is pop." But we kept going.

And then we ended up touring. It was a bloke called Larry Parnes who gave us our first tour, I remember we all changed names for that tour. I changed mine to Paul Ramon, George became Carl Harrison and, although people think you didn't really change your name, I seem to remember you were Long John Silver for the duration of that tour. Bang goes another myth.

We'd been on a van touring later and we'd have the kind of night where the windscreen would break. We would be on the motorway going back up to Liverpool. It was freezing so we had to lie on top of each other in the back of the van, creating a Beatle sandwich. We got to know each other. These were the ways we got to know each other.

We got to Hamburg and met the likes of Little Richard, Gene Vincent%u2026 I remember Little Richard inviting us back to his hotel. He was looking at Ringo's ring and said, "I love that ring." He said, "I've got a ring like that. I could give you a ring like that." So we all went back to the hotel with him. (We never got a ring.)

We went back with Gene Vincent to his hotel room once. It was all going fine until he reached in his bedside drawer and pulled out a gun. We said "Er, we've got to go, Gene, we've got to go%u2026" We got out quick!

And then came the USA-New York City-where we met up with Phil Spector, the Ronettes, the Supremes, our heroes, our heroines. And then later in L.A., we met up with Elvis Presley for one great evening. We saw the boy on his home territory. He was the first person I ever saw with a remote control on a T.V. Boy! He was a hero, man.

And then later, Ed Sullivan. We'd wanted to be famous, now we were getting really famous. I mean imagine meeting Mitzi Gaynor in Miami!

Later, after that, recording at Abbey Road. I still remember doing "Love Me Do." You officially had the vocal "love me do" but because you played the harmonica, George Martin suddenly said in the middle of the session, "Will Paul sing the line 'love me do?' the crucial line. I can still hear it to this day-you would go "Whaaa whaa," and I'd go "love me doo-oo." Nerves, man.

I remember doing the vocal to "Kansas City"-well I couldn't quite get it, because it's hard to do that stuff. You know, screaming out the top of your head. You came down from the control room and took me to one side and said, "You can do it, you've just got to scream, you can do it." So, thank you. Thank you for that. I did it.

I remember writing "A Day in the Life" with you, and the little look we gave each other when we wrote the line "I'd love to turn you on." We kinda knew what we were doing, you know. A sneaky little look.

After that there was this girl called Yoko. Yoko Ono. She showed up at my house one day. It was John Cage's birthday and she said she wanted to get hold of manuscripts of various composers to give to him, and she wanted one from me and you. So I said, "Well it's ok by me, But you'll have to go to John."

And she did...

After that I set up a couple of Brennell recording machines we used to have and you stayed up all night and recorded "Two Virgins." But you took the cover yourselves-nothing to do with me.

And then, after that there were the phone calls to you, the joy for me after all the business shit that we'd gone through was that we were actually getting back together and communicating once again. And the joy as you told me about how you were baking bread now, and how you were playing with your little baby, Sean. That was great for me because it gave me something to hold on to.

So now, years on, here we are. All these people. Here we are, assembled, to thank you for everything that you mean to all of us.

This letter comes with love, from your friend Paul.

John Lennon, you've made it. Tonight you are in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

God bless you.

Paul

The upcoming live broadcast of the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Fuse TV is letting the fans decide the greatest music artist of all time! "The Beatles" is included in the running,

Let your voice be heard and help "The Beatles" take home the title of Ultimate Artist!

You can vote for "The Beatles" in the Fuse Rock Madness tournament right here: http://rockmadness.fuse.tv/a/home

Check back on April 4th to find out who was crowned the Ultimate Artist, and then be sure to tune into Fuse that night at 9pm/8c to watch history being made with the live broadcast of the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Fuse!

You bet I voted for The Beatles!!!