The Fab Five: My Top 5 Beatles Albums

By |2015-04-26T19:10:32-07:00April 26, 2015|Abbey Road, AHDN, Guest blogger, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album|

By Jack Cornes, Guest Dullblogger  •  I should just add before I run through this list that the Beatles were genial from their origin to the day they disbanded. Every album they made is magical, sensual and transforming. I adore all of them. The strange thing with the Beatles is that they were and are so unique that they can’t be described; they exist within the heavens of the musical dynasty. These are my five favourite albums that make these four lads from Liverpool more than just musicians but something quite addictively beautiful. 5. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band I can [...]

Flaming Lips’ “With a Little Help from My Fwends”: Sgt. Pepper’s through a 21st century blender

By |2014-11-03T10:09:08-08:00November 3, 2014|1967, Covers, Drugs, Flaming Lips, Psychedelia, Sgt. Pepper|

Watch up for that blue goo--it really gums up the songs. NANCY CARR * With a Little Help from My Fwends, the Sgt. Pepper’s tribute album from the Flaming Lips and a bunch of their buddies, is a frequently painful listening experience that is also revelatory. It’s just that much of what it reveals leads to depressing conclusions about how the 21st century is shaping up. This is a true cover album, in the sense that Booker T. and the MG’s McLemore Avenue is, and that Mojo magazine compilations of various people doing songs from Revolver or Yellow Submarine aren’t. [...]

Happy birthday, Ringo!

By |2014-07-07T15:50:39-07:00July 7, 2014|1967, 1968, A Day in the Life, birthdays, Levon Helm, Ringo, Ringo Starr, Sgt. Pepper|

DEVIN McKINNEY  •  Hey! Let’s all wish Ringo the best on his 74th birthday. He’s still on tour, still looking great, still showing those peace fingers and giving a plug for love wherever he goes. I wrote a little birthday tribute to Ringo over at HiLobrow, a pop-culture site where I often contribute (edited by the great Josh Glenn, a guest contributor of ours). I hope you’ll pop over and check it out. Here’s something else I’ve wanted to say for a long time about Ringo, and it’s exclusive to Hey Dullblog. Once, not more than a year or two ago, a vision [...]

Beatles in Austin

By |2014-06-03T07:39:49-07:00June 3, 2014|Beatle-inspired, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Sgt. Pepper|

"We're coming to take you away -- FOREVER!" "Yoko, I've a feeling we're not in Manhattan anymore." NANCY CARR * My recent stroll down South Congress in Austin proved again that the Beatles are everywhere. I especially liked Sgt. Pepper's Day of the Dead Club Band at the Mi Casa folk art shop. The prize for sheer oddness goes to the St. Vincent De Paul thrift shop, which has John Lennon, rendered in chalk,  presiding over the linen department. And "smile even if you don't want to" strikes me as one of the mottoes Paul McCartney lives by. [...]

Smile vs. Sgt. Pepper

By |2013-08-13T22:15:47-07:00August 13, 2013|1967, Beach Boys, Psychedelia, Sgt. Pepper|

  The Boys away from the beach, 1967 NANCY CARR • I love the Beach Boys (not the way I love the Beatles, but still), so why can’t I wholeheartedly love Smile? I ask this question sincerely. I think Brian Wilson is a songwriter, singer, and bassist worthy of great praise. I understand why Paul McCartney was so blown away by Pet Sounds that he dreamed up the idea for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I'm glad Smile has finally seen the official light of day, and I'm intrigued by the what-if game of wondering about what might have [...]

Psychedelia in the UK: "A Technicolor Dream"

By |2013-08-12T18:01:53-07:00July 23, 2013|1965, 1966, 1967, Documentaries, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Sgt. Pepper|

Inside the "Ally Pally," for The 14-Hour Technicolor Dream, 1967 Any of you that have been interested by my burblings on "psychedelia"—by which I mean the whole gestation, birth and decay of the flower-power movement—will be interested in a video I streamed from Netflix last night: "A Technicolor Dream." It documents the UK scene: the Albert Hall poetry reading in 1965; the Indica bookstore; IT; The London Free School; UFO; and finally the Fourteen Hour Technicolor Dream on April 30, 1967. Lots of Beatles-related stuff in here, from McCartney's right-hand Miles, to footage of a very stoned John Lennon. Here's [...]

POV

By |2013-07-28T00:12:31-07:00July 19, 2013|1967, Sgt. Pepper|

From Dullblogger Hua: "She's Leaving Home" from the perspective of a girl leaving home. (Anyone know anything about Kathy McCord?) http://youtu.be/ETiDNME4tMA

Some vinyl to complete your collection

By |2014-07-23T10:48:12-07:00July 17, 2013|Sgt. Pepper, The White Album|

It's amazing how many men used to wear horn-rimmed glasses, isn't it? For those of you with a little extra scratch, two Beatles vinyl rarities are up for sale: number A0000001 of The White Album, and a copy of Sgt Pepper with various Capitol execs dotting the crowd in the background. The White Album, which was purchased in 1989 for $1000 (seems cheap even for then), is expected to fetch—well, it has an opening bid of $10,000, so God knows. The Pepper, on the other hand, has an opening bid of $15,000. You can read a bit more about this White LP [...]

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Oh for God’s sake–

By |2014-07-23T11:56:41-07:00July 2, 2013|1967, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper|

No Sgt Pepper? Did they put stupid in the water of Williamsburg? Okay, today I had the kind of experience the internet is made for. I was sitting in my doctor's office reading Entertainment Weekly and—look, I know that if I'm reading EW, I get what I deserve. I suppose I am showing my age, expecting a magazine to be not-idiotic because it's on paper, but still: there I was reading EW's list of the Top 100 LPs of All Time and Revolver is #1, and White is #12, and Abbey Road is #22 and Rubber Soul is #65 or [...]

Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour Live

By |2013-08-13T18:46:41-07:00October 22, 2012|Sgt. Pepper|

Beatles, 1967. This past Friday in Chicago I saw Tributosaurus play all of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Magical Mystery Tour" live, and it was astonishingly great. Hearing the whole thing performed with ALL the instruments originally used—a string section, woodwinds, brass, and a host of Indian instruments—underlined just how rich and rewarding these albums are. The greatest double album the Beatles ever made, in my opinion. Recordings aren't going to do this justice, but here's a clip of "A Day in the Life" that's been posted: http://youtu.be/w4Nv7aIFEjQ Here are a few of my favorite moments from the [...]

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