I have listened to The Beatles since I was a six-year-old boy. Over the years, I have listened to every little thing that has been connected to The Beatles. I have been an avid listener for more than half of my lifetime.
Still, take this with a grain of salt. I'm just basing this writing on my observations as a fan who lived not on the era of the Beatlemania, but rather on the era of the Internet, YouTube and social media.
So, here are some of those whom I think are very lucky, or even blessed, to have the chance of playing, recording, or performing with all former Beatles after the group broke up in 1970. There could be more, but here are three of those I have noticed.
1. Elton John
Sir Elton recorded a single with John Lennon in 1974. The single was called "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" and peaked at number 1. Lennon and Sir Elton played the song with other Beatles hits on a Thanksgiving concert that Sir Elton had in Madison Square Garden on November 28, 1974.
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| Vinyl copy of the concert's live recording with Elton John (left) and John Lennon (right) from discogs.com |
Elton John played with two ex-Beatles at the Prince's Trust Rock Gala in 1987. George Harrison played "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun" alongside Sir Elton John (piano), Phil Collins (drums), Ringo Starr (drums), and Eric Clapton (guitar) among many other performers. Ringo Starr sang "With a Little Help from my Friends", accompanied by all performers, at the end of the concert, which was a very fitting end for a benefit concert such as that.
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| George Harrison (left) and Elton John (right) at the Prince's Trust Rock Gala from gettyimages.it |
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| Ringo Starr (left) and George Harrison from pinterest.com |
Elton John performed at the 1997 Music for Montserrat wherein Paul Mccartney was also a performer. Elton John joined Paul McCartney for a stanza in the Beatles hit "Hey Jude".
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| From left to right: Sting, Elton John, Mark Knofler, Paul McCartney, and Eric Clapton at the Music for Montserrat benefit concert from eltonjohnspics.blogspot.com |
2. Ray Cooper
Ray Cooper has been a percussionist for different musical acts. He has played for Elton John, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and all-star bands playing at benefit concerts. With that, he was also at the Thanksgiving concert in MSG where John Lennon and Elton John had performed "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night."
Ray Cooper also played percussions for George Harrison for his 1991 tour in Japan. Cooper was also present in the 2002 Concert for George held at the Royal Albert Hall to commemorate Harrison's passing in 2001. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were both performers in the Concert for George.
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| Ray Cooper at the Concert for George from concertforgeorge.com |
Ray Cooper was also at the Music for Montserrat benefit concert and played percussions.
3. Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton was probably the luckiest in this list. He was able to record a song with the Beatles in 1968 via White Album's "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" and that only made his friendship and connection with the group even more solid.
Clapton was in a one-time band with John Lennon, The Dirty Mac. He was also at Lennon's 1969 concert performance in Toronto, Canada.
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| From left to right: Eric Clapton, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon performing in 1969 from YouTube.com |
Clapton, being very dear friends with George Harrison, was in almost all concerts that Harrison was a part of. When Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh, Clapton was one of the performers. Harrison's performances for a Carl Perkins special during the mid-'80s also had him and Clapton playing with Carl Perkins. The pair was also a part of the 1987 Prince's Trust Rock Gala. Additionally, all three aforementioned concerts also had Ringo Starr playing the drums.
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| George Harrison (left) and Eric Clapton (right) playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from guitarworld.com |
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| From left to right: Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Dhani Harrison at the Concert for George from dallasnews.com |
Clapton was also the one who encouraged Harrison to tour Japan in the early '90s. They went on to do the tour and released an album consisting of the live recordings of the tour.
Clapton performed on the Music for Montserrat with Paul McCartney in 1997. He played some of the guitar licks in the Beatle's "The End" which McCartney played as part of the Abbey Road Medley. The two also performed the song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with McCartney on piano and Clapton on guitar as a tribute to George Harrison after his passing in 2001.
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| Eric Clapton (left) and Paul McCartney (right) at the Conceert for George from societyofrock.com |
