Here’s Daytrippin‘s list for the Top 10 best Beatles holiday gifts for 2020 including new releases and also essential items for your collection:
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Gimme Some John Lennon: A list of new releases and events celebrating Lennon’s 80th birthday

John Lennon would have turned 80 years old on October 9, 2020. In recognition of this milestone birthday, Daytrippin’ has compiled a list of the many new releases and events taking place on or near that special day. These include TV and radio broadcasts, online events, new books and exhibitions around the world.
PBS TV programming:
Two shows re-airing on October 9, 2020
(1) Lennon NYC: American Masters (from 2010)
(2) Classic albums: John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band
(check local listings for air dates)
RADIO specials
John Lennon at 80:
Sean Ono Lennon’s musical portrait of his Dad

Click here to listen to Part 1 with Elton John and Julian Lennon
Click here to listen to Part 2 with Paul McCartney
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WJCT’s Jacksonville Music Experience Presents
a four-day musical celebration of John Lennon with special programming.
“Imagine: A John Lennon Tribute,” will air October 8-11
Click here for more info

NEW CD SET: GIMME SOME TRUTH

JOHN LENNON – GIMME SOME TRUTH: THE ULTIMATE MIXES due out October 9.
Executive Produced by Yoko Ono Lennon and Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, these 36 songs, handpicked by Yoko and Sean, have all been completely remixed from scratch, radically upgrading their sonic quality and presenting them as a never-before-heard Ultimate Listening Experience.
NEW RELEASES INCLUDE
A DELUXE EDITION BOX SET FEATURING 36 TRACKS ACROSS 2 CDS AND A BLU-RAY AUDIO DISC WITH HIGH-DEFINITION 24-96 STEREO, IMMERSIVE 5.1 SURROUND SOUND AND DOLBY ATMOS MIXES PLUS EXCLUSIVE 124-PAGE BOOK
ALSO AVAILABLE IN VARIETY OF PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL FORMATS INCLUDING
1CD, 2CD, 2LP, 4LP AND STREAMING/DOWNLOAD
Click here for track listings and order links:
3-disc box set / 4 LP set – https://amzn.to/3i5yeyT
2-CD set / 2 LP set – https://amzn.to/321imrM
Single CD – https://amzn.to/3lPmT8q
New John Lennon books
Dream Lovers: John and Yoko in New York:
The Photographs of Brian Hamill
(click on cover for more info)
John Lennon 1940-1980: The 80th Birthday Celebration
(click on cover for more info)
John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life
(click on cover for more info)
John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the year Canada was cool
(click on cover for more info)
Online tribute concerts
40th annual John Lennon tribute concert by Theatre Within
The 40th Annual John Lennon Tribute will be seen exclusively free on this website starting on John Lennon’s birthday, October 9 at 7pm ET thru October 12 at midnight. The program will include unreleased performances from previous Tributes, plus new performances of John Lennon and Beatles classics. It will feature recorded performances from Patti Smith, Rosanne Cash, Natalie Merchant, Jackson Browne, Jorma Kaukonen and others.
More info: https://www.lennontribute.org/
“Remember Lennon: Imagine 80”
A special online concert event on October 9, 2020
The show is a speculative representation of a concert that Lennon may have performed had he still been alive and actually playing out. The production incorporates one of the world’s greatest John Lennon tribute artists along with a full backing band to present an evening of John Lennon’s Beatles and post-Beatles material live in concert. Showtime is 7pm EST.
Tickets available here:
http://www.rememberlennon.com/
Exhibitions
In His Life – Morrison Hotel Gallery
Morrison Hotel Gallery reimagines what it means to be a dreamer in the digital age with its latest online exhibition, opening Thursday, October 1st, 2020 with select works of John Lennon on view by photographers Bob Gruen, Astrid Kirchherr and Allan Tannenbaum at both its Los Angeles and New York City outposts by appointment only.
Click here for more info
Double Fantasy Exhibit in Tokyo

The Double Fantasy: John & Yoko exhibition is opening in Tokyo on October 9, 2020. It was originally held in Lennon’s hometown of Liverpool in 2018, where it drew an unprecedented 700,000 visitors throughout its run. The exhibit includes over 100 items pertaining to art, music and film that John Lennon and Yoko Ono created together.
The exhibition will run until January 11 2021 at the Roppongi Sony Music Museum.
Click here for more info
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Ringo Starr at 80: I feel like I’m 24

Remembering Beatles photographer, Astrid Kirchherr
Astrid Kirchherr, friend and photographer of The Beatles, passed away on May 12, 2020 at the age of 81. She was the first photographer to take professional quality photos of the Beatles. Her famous black and white portraits taken in Hamburg, Germany in October 1960 show The Beatles dressed in leather jackets and slicked-back hair – quite different from the moptop hairstyle and Edwardian suits they would adopt two years later.
Flashback 2010: Ringo Starr gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
On February 8, 2010, Ringo Starr, former Beatle and legendary drummer, received the 2,401st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Walk of Fame with a special nighttime dedication which took place in front of the Capitol Records building, a building which Starr quipped, “[The Beatles] helped pay for.”
The three guests who spoke on Ringo’s behalf represented different periods in Ringo’s solo career. Musician Joe Walsh, who also happens to be Starr’s brother-in-law, first worked with Ringo on the 1980s album, Old Wave. He called Ringo “the most kind and helpful friend you could ever want.” Walsh was also part of Ringo’s first All-Starr Band back in 1989. In 2010, Ringo toured with his 11th All Starr band.
Producer Don Was, who first worked with Ringo on his 1992 album Time Takes Time, called Ringo “one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock and roll.” He described Ringo’s innovative style of “musical drumming” stating “Ringo’s musicality, his groove and his spirit are absolutely essential components of all those great Beatle records…what I hear in his drumming is humility… respect for the song, respect for the singer…compassion for what the other musicians are doing.”
Singer/songwriter Ben Harper began his praise for Ringo by saying, “Ringo Starr is simply another way of saying peace and love.” Harper and his band Relentless7 have been the support band for Ringo in his recent live appearances to promote hist latest album Y NOT.
An awestruck Harper gushed that there were “no words enough to define the global cultural and spiritual effect and influence Ringo Starr has had on the entire planet.” Harper became friends with Ringo after they both appeared at David Lynch’s Transcendental Meditation benefit concert last year.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented Ringo with an official proclamation from the city and host Leron Gubler, President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce proclaimed it was Ringo Starr Day.
Finally when Ringo took the stage, he described how touched he was to hear all the compliments given by the three musicians: “It’s hard to stand up here and to have guys like that saying what they said — I want a record of that. I want to put it on CD and never take it down… These three guys who spoke tonight are at the top of my list.”
Ringo went on to thank his wife, Barbara Bach, of 30 years, who he says he fell in love with instantly when he saw her at LAX airport in 1980. Then Ringo talked about his former bandmates:
“The Beatles in my book was the best band in the world. I have three brothers. They looked out for me, I looked out for them, and we all supported each other. It was really beautiful to be part of that and besides that, we made some great records!
“They’re still my closest friends, they’re nominated here in front of me – John and George. I love them both. Peace and love! And let’s not forget the guy who’s in England – Paul. Peace and love!”
All four stars for John, Paul, George and Ringo are located next to each other in front of the Capitol Records’ building entrance at 1750 N. Vine Street. John Lennon posthumously received a star on September 30, 1988 and the late George Harrison received a star on April 14, 2009. Paul McCartney had already been approved to receive a star but the ceremony was not held until February 9, 2012.
The Beatles star was included on the Walk of Fame on December 25, 1998, and placed next to Elvis Presley’s star when that star was moved from its original location to a special spot at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and La Brea.
“I’m thrilled to be getting this star,” Ringo continued. “This is the start of the next 50 years of stars and I’m proud to be the first one. It’s also cool to get it at night. I don’t know about you, but where I live the stars come out at night.”
Ringo ended his speech with his favorite motto: “Peace and Love!”
Ben Harper summed it up best: “Today, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is receiving a star by which all other stars are measured — Ringo Starr.”
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Related: A Look Back at Paul McCartney’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony
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