Rock Encyclopedia

The Beatles are now available for the first time on the iTunes Store.

The group’s 13 legendary remastered studio albums with iTunes LPs, the two-volume “Past Masters” compilation and the classic “Red” and “Blue” collections are available for purchase and download on iTunes worldwide as either albums or individual songs.

Fans can also get a special digital “Beatles Box Set” featuring the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film, a worldwide iTunes exclusive which captures the Beatles’ very first US concert.

“We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes ten years ago.”

“In the joyful spirit of Give Peace A Chance, I think it is so appropriate that we are doing this on John’s 70th birthday year,” said Yoko Ono Lennon.

“The Beatles on iTunes—Bravo!” said Olivia Harrison.

“The Beatles and iTunes have both been true innovators in their fields,” said EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon. “It’s a privilege for everybody at EMI to work with Steve Jobs and with Apple Corps’ Jeff Jones and their teams in marking a great milestone in the development of digital music.”

Each of the Beatles’ 13 legendary remastered studio albums, including “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Revolver,” “The Beatles [The White Album]” and “Abbey Road” include iTunes LPs, which create an immersive album experience with a beautiful design and expanded visual features including a unique mini-documentary about the creation of each album. The two-volume “Past Masters” compilation and the classic “Red” and “Blue” collections are also available.

Single albums are available for purchase and download for $12.99 each, double albums for $19.99 each and individual songs for $1.29 each.

The special digital “Beatles Box Set” ($149) contains the 13 remastered studio albums with iTunes LPs and all mini-documentaries, “Past Masters,” and the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film, a worldwide iTunes exclusive which captures the Beatles’ very first US concert in its entirety. In addition, Beatles fans can stream and view the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film from iTunes for free for the remainder of this calendar year.

To paraphrase the iconic lyrics “Well it was forty-three years ago today / Sergeant Pepper taught a band to play…” as one of the most influential rock albums of all time, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, was released on June 2, 1967. Given the anniversary date, it is fitting that power pop progenitors Cheap Trick will bring their own interpretation of “Sgt. Pepper Live” to Paris Las Vegas for a limited engagement beginning June 11.

A Bill Edwards Presents Inc. production, the show is Cheap Trick’s live celebration of the iconic and beloved Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Geoff Emerick, the renowned engineer of The Beatles’ classic album, will supervise the audio production of “Sgt. Pepper Live.” Emmy-award winning production designer Rene Lagler designed the sets that are evocative of the vivid rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1960s and include a 60′-wide by 12′-high elevated orchestra stage and three turn-table entranceways.

“We have created an energetic and spectacular interpretation of an album that was absolutely groundbreaking when it was released 43 years ago,” said producer Bill Edwards. “These songs are known and loved by millions of people and Cheap Trick has captured the essence of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ in their unique style and recreated one of the most beloved and timeless musical works of modern times.”

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the eighth studio album released by The Beatles. It took them 129 days to record. The album incorporated musical genres of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, western classical and traditional Indian music, including the sitar. The Beatles never performed the album in its entirety due to the complex studio technology that was employed in the making of the album. (more…)

You say you want a revolution? The world’s largest Beatles tribute festival will return for the sixth year as the signature Memorial Day Weekend event in Louisville. WHAS-11 Abbey Road on the River, a five day music festival celebrating the greatest rock band of all time, will be held at the Belvedere Park and Galt House Hotel from May 27th – May 31st.

A 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Terry Sylvester of The Hollies will headline this year’s festival, along with over 75 other bands performing on eight stages. Growing up just a few houses away from Paul McCartney in Liverpool, Sylvester joined The Hollies in 1968 after Graham Nash left. The band scored three international number one hits with Sylvester lead singing, “He Ain’t Heavy,” “The Air That I Breathe,” and “Long Tall Woman.” The Hollies melodies and harmonies were second only to those of The Beatles. Sylvester is the fifth Liverpool musician to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining The Fabs themselves, John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

Other renowned Beatles tribute bands performing this year include Canada’s Hal Bruce and All You Need is Love; Chicago’s Britbeat; Moscow, Russia’s Alyona; Puerto Rico’s The Jukebox; Germany’s Beat Radicals; Athens, Georgia’s Abbey Road LIVE; Norway’s Norwegian Beatles; and Sweden’s The Repeatles.

For the first time in its nine year history, the festival will expand to include a show in Washington D.C. over Labor Day Weekend. Beatles’ fans will experience five days of peace, love and rock-n-roll at the Gaylord National Resort’s first-class facilities, located just steps from the shopping, restaurants, entertainment, and waterfront attractions at the new lifestyle community, National Harbor.

Festival tickets are currently on sale at www.abbeyroadontheriver.com, and families can save big by purchasing their tickets by April 30th. Advanced tickets include free admission for one 21 and under guest with each regular ticketholder.

WHAS-11 Abbey Road on the River is known throughout The Beatles community as the biggest and best festival dedicated to The Fab Four in the world.