The iconic photo of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road that graced the album of the same name was snapped 40 years ago today, drawing hundreds of fans to the famous north London street to mark the event with songs, tributes, and other remembrances. As the AP explains, on August 8, 1969, police held up traffic while photographer Iain Macmillan stood on a stepladder and shot photos of the band walking back and forth across the crosswalk. The shot that made the cover depicted Paul McCartney barefoot and out of step with the others, launching countless conspiracy theories that Paul was dead and an impostor had taken his place in the band. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-08-08T13:41:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/9/29/1813/50613
Few peoples do classic rock like the Germans do, and, as it turns out, the Germans may do the Beatles even better than the Brits. While Liverpool's got the officially sanctioned "Beatles Story" experience, Germany has something even better: a privately owned Beatles museum run by a real Beatles geek. His name is Rainer Moers, and his three-storey gallery in Halle is home to the Beatles memorabilia he's been collecting since 1964.

The museum's twelve exhibit rooms are divided by year groupings, beginning at 1957-64 and running all the way up to the present, including each Beatle's solo years. Admission is € 3.00 to Liverpool's £ 8.99, though, admittedly, only there can you get an audio guide narrated by John Lennon's sister. Alright, so the Beatles Story does have some great stuff you won't find anywhere else, but there's one important reason why we'll pick the Beatles Museum in Halle first any day, and it ain't tangible. The love, dedication and, okay, obsession it took Rainer Moers (a real fan) to bring the museum to life are the best testament imaginable to the influence and impact of the legendary Fab Four.

Halle is a 1 hour 17 minute train ride from Berlin, making it a completely doable day trip from the city.

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·   Beatles Home Given Landmark Status [Jaunted]]]> djk 2006-09-29T09:15:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/9/15/14184/4081

The Casbah Coffee Club, one of the first clubs the Beatles ever perfomed in, has been given landmark (Grade II) status by the English government. Located in the home of original Beatles dummer Pete Best in Liverpool, the beatles played there countless times until it closed in 1962.

And if you were to go for a visit, what exactly would you see? Why, there's

wall and ceiling paintings of spiders, dragons, rainbows and stars by original band members along with 1960s musical equipment, amplifiers and original chairs.