Early Beatles collaborator dies. Tony Iommi/Brian May collaborative album. Bill Wyman writing a second memoir. Maker's Mark reverses itself. Opposites really do attract. Sneezing drivers cause accidents. Five ways to make the honeymoon phase last. Unfortunate dating lessons learned from Disney princesses.

THE BEATLES

Early Beatles collaborator, Tony Sheridan, who fronted the Beatles' first professional recording sessions in 1961 in Hamburg, Germany, died on February 16th from an undisclosed illness at age 72, according to Beatles Examiner. It was Sheridan's single -- in which the Beatles were billed as the Beat Brothers -- which spurred future manager Brian Epstein to seek out the "Fab Four," then playing at Liverpool's Cavern Club, and eventually manage them. Over the years, the eight songs the Beatles recorded for Polydor -- with then-drummer Pete Best -- have been reissued literally dozens of times, and earlier this year the recent release The Beatles With Tony Sheridan - First Recordings: 50th Anniversary Edition lost out in the "Best Album Notes" category to the Ray Charles box set, Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles.

Paul McCartney, who first performed with Sheridan at Hamburg's legendary Top Ten Club said in a statement: "Tony was a good guy who we knew and worked with from early days in Hamburg. We regularly watched his late night performances and admired his style. He will be missed."

• Pete Best posted on his Facebook page: "It is with the greatest of regrets I heard that my friend and a man I spent many hours with on stage, recorded with and regarded as a very special musician passed away this morning. I will miss him, but he will always live in my memories. Rest in peace Mr. Tony Sheridan (The Teacher), Pete."
• Noted Beatles author, Mark Lewisohn told Beatles Examiner: "It's really very sad to see Tony go. I went to Germany in 2006 to interview him for my new books, and he had a young wife, Anna, who was clearly taking loving care of him. She then died of cancer in 2011, age 33, and it hit Tony very hard. He went downhill fast after that. I've always sensed Tony's frustration that he was famous only for his connection to the Beatles, but such is the immensity of their shadow, anyone with an association tends to be remembered for that and only that. It can be a cross to bear.
• Lewisohn went on to add: "So it's worth remembering that when the Beatles first met Tony, in Hamburg in 1960, they were the excited ones. He'd been a regular performer on Oh! Boy, Jack Good's weekly (UK) TV show, which they always watched. He was a star in their eyes, known for being the first man simultaneously to play electric guitar and sing on British television, an important first. Tony's career had several highs and many lows, but his part in the Beatles' rise was significant, and he earned his place in a great history."
• The Beatles' sessions backing Tony Sheridan took place on June 22nd to 23rd, 1961 in Hamburg, with the band backing taping the tracks "My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)," "The Saints (When The Saints Go Marching In)," "Why," "Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby," and "Nobody's Child" -- along with two tracks without Sheridan, the John Lennon-George Harrison instrumental, "Cry For A Shadow" and Lennon taking the lead vocal on a rocked up take of the standard, "Ain't She Sweet," after Gene Vincent's version. On May 24th, 1962 the Beatles recorded one last tune backing Sheridan -- "Sweet Georgia Brown."
• Over the years, John Lennon and George Harrison said that the Beatles were at the top of their game as performers during their Hamburg era, which spanned from 1960 to 1962. Pete Best said that the long hours the band played made them a top attraction: "I mean, we didn't realize how long we were going to be playing. And what we played in Liverpool was an hour, possibly two hours maximum, something like that which was par for the course. But when we got out to Germany we got told we were playing six, seven hours a night -- possibly 15, 20 minutes off, y'know on the hour. There's nothing you can do about it. You're there, you're not gonna contest it. It's just like, 'Okay, we've got a job to do, let's just get on with it.'"

BLACK SABBATH/QUEEN

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Queen six-stringer Brian May are said to be planning a collaborative album based around the vast amount of unused riffs that both men have compiled, according to Blabbermouth. The idea would be to collect the riffs in one place and then let fans build their own songs around them. The existence of the project was revealed in the latest issue of Kerrang! magazine, in which May answered questions posed by some of his fellow musicians.

Iommi's submitted question was, "When are we going to get to work on that album of riffs together? You know what I'm talking about..." May replied, "Yes, I do know what he's talking about and I'm very, very keen. The record he's talking about was supposed to be a secret but I guess he's blown it now!"

• May explained that the project was hatched when he visited Iommi's studio and was struck by the amount of unused material the Sabbath guitarist had. May said, "The idea was to put all these riffs out in some form so that people could build their own songs from them. You could make your own music with Tony Iommi on guitar!"
• Iommi, along with bassist Geezer Butler and singer Ozzy Osbourne, has just completed 13, the first Sabbath album in 35 years to feature three of the four original members of the band.
• The guitarist was diagnosed with cancer in January 2012, just before work on the album commenced, and has been undergoing treatment ever since.
• Sabbath is expected to tour North America this July and August, following the June release of the new album.

BILL WYMAN

Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is currently writing a second "warts-and-all" memoir of his time with the band. Wyman, who's now 76, and performed during the band's 50th anniversary shows in London late last year, told The Telegraph: "I'm going through my old diaries and boxes full of stuff I collected over the years, but it's finding it all that's the problem. I'm only up to 1972 at the moment."

MAKER'S MARK REVERSES ITSELF, SAYS WON'T LOWER ALCOHOL CONTENT

 After receiving a large number of complaints from customers about the recent news that it was going to slightly reduce the alcohol content of its bourbon, Maker's Mark has decided has decided against making the change. Under the headline, "You spoke. We listened," the company wrote on its website, "Effective immediately, we are reversing our decision to lower the ABV (alcohol by volume) of Maker's Mark, and resuming production at 45 percent alcohol by volume." The company had planned to lower the amount of alcohol from 45 percent to 42 percent -- which would translate to a reduction from 90 proof to 84 proof -- as a way to stretch supply. Maker's Mark has been struggling to keep up with demand, which has more than doubled in the past seven years.

OPPOSITES REALLY DO ATTRACT

New research shows couples who are too similar to each other are less likely to have lasting relationships than those with some differences between them. Psychologists studied about 730 men and women for three years for the study, which was published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The couples were questioned on levels of intimacy, closeness to their partner, commitment and depression, among other things. Researchers found that the couples with the strongest relationships fell somewhere between being very close and very distant. (Daily Mail)

SNEEZING DRIVERS CAUSE ACCIDENTS

If you have a bad cold you should really stay off the roads, researchers say. A study conducted by British company Halfords Autocentres, finds that sneezing and nose blowing are the behaviors to blame for 2,500-accidents per week during the winter. Researchers say drivers can travel as far as 50-feet with their eyes closed during a sneeze. The study found that nine-percent of Britain's 2.6-million drivers admitted to taking their eyes off the road due to a cold or flu. (Daily Mail)

FIVE WAYS TO MAKE THE HONEYMOON PHASE LAST(Women's Health Mag):

1) Mix up date night. The infatuation phase of relationships involves the spiking of a potent neurochemical cocktail, so it's really as though couples are under the influence," says sex and relationships counselor Ian Kerner, Ph.D., author of She Comes First. Luckily you can mix a similar dopamine and norepinephrine cocktail by simply doing new things with your man, according to research from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. What's more, when your body is physiologically aroused (think: slippery palms and a racing heart) you associate that feeling with whatever's in your environment... like each other.

2) See things a new way. The next time you and your guy have a fight, try to envision it from an outside, neutral perspective. Practicing this third-party assessment trick can help make you feel like you're back in the honeymoon phase, according to a new study from Northwestern University.

3) Schedule sex. The more often you have sex, the better. Period. Regular sex makes both of you produce more libido-revving testosterone so you'll start going at it like rabbits even without a schedule. And couples that have regular sex are 65 percent more likely to be happy in their relationship, according to research published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.

4) Keep the mystery alive. If familiarity doesn't breed contempt, it definitely breeds indifference. Studies have shown that attraction relies on constant and lasting discovery of your partner. And the strongest individuals build the strongest bonds, Kerner says. So avoid texting each other real-time updates on every aspect of your life and give each other space. Try scheduling some guys and girls nights out, or even separate vacations with friends, he suggests.

5) Get physical. Olivia Newton-John was right. Exercise makes you want to have sex. Exercise boosts your sex drive, mood, and clears your mind of clutter than can get in the way of any woman's O, Kerner says. And if you've been considering welcoming a little blue pill into your bed, consider a gym date instead: In one study of 31,000 men, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that those who exercised vigorously for 20 to 30 minutes a day were 30 percent less likely to report erectile dysfunction than were couch potatoes.

UNFORTUNATE DATING LESSONS LEARNED FROM DISNEY PRINCESSES (The Gloss):

1) Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Men do care about conversation, also, you should just show up to events in a bra. All the time. So, be a good conversationalist and wear very little clothing and you're in. If you ever get laryngitis, your boyfriend will leave you for a sea witch, but he will not mind if you comb your hair with a fork.

2) Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Girls who read books are super weird. Only wealthy narcissists are capable of loving girls who read, as opposed to shy bespectacled men who also read. Seek out wealthy narcissists.

3) Cinderella. If you get the right pair of shoes, men will fall in love with you immediately. Men notice that kind of thing.

4) Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. If you sleep too much, no one will even remember that you have a name. However, men will also find this attractive. Inaction is action.

5) Jasmine from Aladdin. If any kind of con man who you just met offers you a joy ride, you should absolutely accept. It will be awesome.

6) Snow White. Men who are shorter than you are never viable dating candidates. You should, however, treat them like children, to showcase your maternal skills to men who are taller than you.

Thanks for listening to The Eagle while you work. Keep it fabulous, Houston!

xoxo,

Jennifer Tyler

Fabulous Mid-Day Diva