Who is this man? Several Beatles-related conspiracy theories—the idea that John and Paul were lovers, and the granddaddy of them all, the Paul McCartney death hoax—have emerged in the comments of late, and so I wanted to take a moment to share some strategies on how to deal with this kind of thinking. The goal should be to address the material in a respectful way—clearly it touches many people powerfully—while at the same time keeping things sane and positive. From the age of roughly five (I know, I know) to 42, I was fascinated by conspiracy theories about the assassinations of the [...]

Is there, do you think, a secret history of The Beatles? In a private email, commenter Justin and I began talking about this Dullblog post—which, nearly ten years later, remains the best summary of my feelings on the breakup. (For those short on time: I think Lennon pulled away from Paul and the group impulsively, almost by mistake, driven by his pride, his manager, his habit and his wife, pretty much in that order; and then didn't have the emotional tools to walk it back, even though he regretted it immediately and eventually realized it killed him creatively.) John "Superfly" Lennon, January [...]

https://youtu.be/GQCfZ4uAAuE I genuinely love Abbey Road—for what it is, and for the role it plays in the Beatles' story, too. I agree with Michael Bleicher's recent post: of all The Beatles' work it is the least sonically dated. More than that, it's always somewhat refreshing to listen to. To my ear, it mapped out a solid future for the group, should they have cared to grasp it (and Allen Klein's machinations not gotten in the way). "Come Together" is a thoroughly Lennon song—no one else could've written or sung that; ditto McCartney's "Oh Darling" or "The End"; or "Something" or "Here Comes [...]

Actor and acclaimed Beatle tangent ("At a party at the Playboy Mansion in 1965, Lennon overheard...") Peter Fonda died this week at age 79. As I said in this earlier post, I met him at a party in 2009, and we talked Fabs. He was tall and gracious and looked just like, well, Peter Fonda. George was his favorite Beatle, but the song he inspired was John's. Dullblogger Devin wrote an acclaimed biography of Peter's dad Henry (link goes to Amazon), so maybe he has something interesting to share. I'll reach out. Meanwhile, my verdict: Good guy. Good song. Good life. https://youtu.be/8b-9DNkWw5g

Everybody's a baby. Commenter @Justin wrote this morning about John Lennon's lousy reputation among younger Beatle fans, and the concomitant rise in esteem that Paul McCartney has enjoyed. This has joggled some thoughts about my own fandom that perhaps are worth sharing. I haven't given this post the obsessive working over that I sometimes mete out to my posts on Dullblog, and that's on purpose; I'm writing "off the top of my brain," trusting that this will add something that too much analysis might take away. When I was growing up, John was my favorite Beatle, and it wasn't close. I liked [...]