Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

All Things Must Pass

By Michael Gerber|2016-05-01T12:24:19-07:00May 1, 2016|Documentaries|

Cool car, too Dullblog readers will likely enjoy All Things Must Pass, a recent documentary on the rise and demise of Tower Records. Directed by Colin Hanks, All Things Must Pass probes all the nooks and crannies of the legendary record store chain, which via the magic of contemporary American capitalism, only exists in Japan anymore. Turns out that the biggest threat to our way of life isn't "handtruck fuel" (store slang for cocaine), but bankers. The doc is a fascinating glimpse into Sixties, and particularly Seventies, rock culture, which generated oodles of cash and spawned a million mini-ecologies, from [...]

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Beatle humor in your daily life

By Michael Gerber|2016-05-01T12:35:47-07:00May 1, 2016|comedy|

"Pencil, Mal -- " I was recently in the hospital with my first kidney stone (not recommended). I left the experience knowing two new things about myself. One, I can survive the most intense pain the male body can dish out. And two, no matter how bad it gets, I still keep a sense of humor. After eight hours of agony, the nurse decided to "get on top of this pain" by giving me a bunch of morphine. My wife Kate was standing next to me as he put a port into my right hand, loaded the ampule, and pressed [...]

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Gopnik on Norman on McCartney

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-26T21:37:24-07:00April 26, 2016|biography|

Paul, looking over his shoulder Adam Gopnik has contributed a peculiar review of Philip Norman's new bio, Paul McCartney: The Life. The TL;DR is "A reader familiar with the past twenty years of Beatles biography will have a pretty hard time finding a single new fact or revelation within [Norman's biography]." Pretty damning, right? Apparently not; Gopnik hastens to add that we shouldn't blame Norman. "After Lewisohn; after Barry Miles’s strange Many Years from Now, a semi-official biography; after Albert Goldman’s The Lives of John Lennon and the Beatles Anthology series, there just isn’t much left to say. Even if [...]

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Prince SHREDS While My Guitar Gently Weeps

By Michael Gerber|2020-09-16T15:18:43-07:00April 21, 2016|Covers|

So much to say about Prince, probably the closest thing my generation had to The Beatles, but today is the last day of our Kickstarter for issue #2 of The American Bystander -- so it will have to wait a bit. While you're waiting, however, here is a 2004 version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with an absolutely cataclysmic guitar solo by Prince. (And I don't like solos, as a rule.) We've posted it before, but today of all days, it must be heard. https://youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y I'm typing this quickly, in between updates to the Kickstarter, but the more I think, the [...]

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Hey Jude by Tiny Tim and the Brave Combo

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-14T09:44:31-07:00April 13, 2016|Covers|

UPDATE: Such is the awesome power of Dullblog, that the video of Hey Jude by Tiny Tim has been taken down less than 12 hours after this post. In its place, I offer Tim's version of "Girl," which should give you a flavor. Anybody who finds a link to "Hey Jude," lemme know and I'll replace it. https://youtu.be/eL0Xq03eZWw Just to be absolutely clear, I love that we live in a world where Tiny Tim existed; if he hadn't existed, I would've longed to invent him. And I'm glad there are people who like his work. But... Brave" is the word I'd apply [...]

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Stop And Smell The Daisies

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-10T23:10:08-07:00April 10, 2016|1967|

Anybody know where and when this was taken? Bangor, 1967? Stop and smell the daisies

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Gotta Get This Outta My Life

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-09T11:04:45-07:00April 9, 2016|Covers|

Nineteen sixty-eight has been called the year America came apart, and I personally think this Joe Pesci Beatles cover might have been the reason. Listen at your own risk. https://youtu.be/JfCPawM7kIY

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The American Bystander #2

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-08T12:26:47-07:00April 8, 2016|comedy|

I look high, I look low... Where is Mike?" I'm sure many of you are not asking. But others may be concerned. "Where am I supposed to get my daily quota of digs at the White Album? Who can I turn to for frank, unashamed love for the Fabs' psychedelic period? Not to mention egregious and off-topic references to Peter Cook and Peter Sellers? Some bad person is trying to make me listen to Let It Be, and I need reasons not to! Help!" It's like this, Beatle peedles: After a near-decade of under- and straight up un-employment, my life [...]

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Ray Cathode is George Martin and Maddalena Fagandini

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-01T17:34:32-07:00April 1, 2016|George Martin|

Spotted something neat on the Twitter feed of musician Michael Penn today: this oh-so-1962 single, recorded by a post-Goons pre-Beatles George Martin and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Maddalena Fagandini. Can someone please tell me what a "time interval" is? Apparently "Time Waltz" was a reworked time interval. https://youtu.be/mhVYEgMrxOg In addition to his humble roots, George Martin's buttoned-up demeanor and BBC diction hid just how widely his mind did range. The Fabs were beyond lucky to pair up with him. It is the intellectual range of the Beatles which makes them so endurably fascinating to me. (And maybe to you, as well.)

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Commenting Standards on Hey Dullblog

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-24T10:31:33-07:00March 24, 2016|Housekeeping|

Your commanding officer, Mr. Paul McCartney They all laughed when we stepped up to the mic, but when we began to sing... Hey Dullblog is the most popular Beatles fan site on the web, with about a thousand visitors a day. This means that we're getting lots of new commenters, which we love. But now's a good time to remind everybody that Dullblog's a bit different than the rest of the internet: comments here are expected to be constructive, substantive and civil. Constructive meaning part of a good faith attempt on our all parts to learn more, and understand better, [...]

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About Michael Gerber