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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Well, Here’s Another Clue for You All: The Walrus was Faul

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"We did it because we loved him." That was the caption under a photo of four smiling Beatles that graced the back cover of a special edition "Paul is Dead" magazine that I bought in 1970. Beatlemania had come and gone, but I wasn't ready to let go - especially of Paul, who was my current favorite. (There's nothing 10-year-old…

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You Score an Ounce, Olé — Paul, Pot, and the Petition of ’67

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Even if Bob Dylan hadn't introduced The Beatles to marijuana at New York's Delmonico Hotel, the boys would have lit up soon enough. From that August 1964 night onward, "let's have a laugh" quickly became their code phrase for "let's have a toke." And laugh they did. At least until they began getting busted for smoking that wicked weed. It turns out that Paul, not the controversial John, was the most prolific pot puffer of all, leading the band in number of arrests.

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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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From Bullfrog to Bulldog: A Beatles Gem From Their Post-Pepper End Days

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"Hey Bullfrog."  That was the original working title of the piano-driven Beatles song that ended up being called "Hey Bulldog" when Paul, for some unknown reason, began barking during the recording. This video shows one of the last times the fab four came together in the studio and really rocked as a unit.

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