Two Tales of a City

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Anthony Dominick Benedetto - better known as Tony Bennett -- may have been born and raised in Astoria, Queens, but his timeless love song to San Francisco would convince you he'd lived there all his life. Seriously, how could he NOT have left his heart in a place as beautiful as San Francisco? Well, the working-class seaport city of Liverpool, England, may be on the opposite end of the scale when it comes to romantic settings, but four famous rockers left their hearts there, nonetheless. And, like Mr. Bennett, they drew their inspiration from the city they loved. Forty-seven years ago this month, the Beatles released their 24th U.S. single, a double A-side record featuring two songs inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney's childhood memories of Liverpool: "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane."

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Lennonova Zed’ : Where ‘Power to the People’ Took Hold in Prague

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Each year on the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, his son Julian thanks his Facebook followers for their heartfelt condolences, and asks them to buck up, remember the good times, and not wallow in sadness. Right on, Jules. Even though I shed a tear each and every December 8th – the date of John’s murder in 1980 – this year I'd like to present an upbeat memorial to the man whose music changed my life. How about a little story about his influence on the city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, where the Lennon Wall - Lennonova Zeď - stands as a symbol of freedom.

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Come Together, Beatles: Here’s a Check for Three Grand

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April 24, 1976, marked the last evening that Paul McCartney would spend with John Lennon. That night, Paul and his wife Linda dropped in on John and Yoko, unannounced, and the two former Beatles spent a few hours together in the Lennons' apartment in the monolithic Dakota Building in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Don't you just wonder what the Fab Two engaged in on that Saturday evening? Did they take turns bouncing 6-month-old Baby Sean on their knees? Nosh on a jar of Yoko's expensive caviar? Play "Bohemian Rhapsody" on John's turntable, hoping that Ms. Ono wouldn't screech "scaramouche, scaramouche" along with Freddie Mercury? Well, as it turns out, they sat in the Lennons' living room and watched Saturday Night Live! Imagine their surprise when SNL producer Lorne Michaels appeared on their TV screen, announcing an offer to pay the Beatles $3,000 to come together and perform three songs on his show!

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Bloody Sunday: When Johnny O’Lennain and Paul McCartney Got their Irish Up

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In February 1972, Paul McCartney released a single that finally put him in the same league of controversy that his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon had long inhabited. That was the month Paul released his single, "Give Ireland Back to the Irish." It was his response to Bloody Sunday, a horrific event in which British soldiers shot and killed 26 unarmed civil-rights protesters and bystanders who were taking part in a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march on January 30, 1972. Most people aren't aware that John had also recorded two songs in response to Britain's brutal treatment of Ireland: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck of the Irish," both featured on his June 1972 LP "Sometime in New York City."

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Whatever Gets You to the Heights, S’Alright

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Imagine there's no Billboard To measure record sales. No song's the winner, No song ever fails. Imagine all releases Treasured equally…. Imagine the most defining song of John Lennon's career NOT reaching the number one spot on the Billboard charts when it was released in October 1971. Surprisingly, John's iconic peace anthem, "Imagine," actually peaked at number three, which just goes to prove that chart position does not a legendary song make. John's only single to hit the number one spot during his lifetime was "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," which topped the U.S. charts in November 1974.

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