Stop And Smell The Daisies
Anybody know where and when this was taken? Bangor, 1967? Stop and smell the daisies
Gotta Get This Outta My Life
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
The American Bystander #2
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 [...]
Ray Cathode is George Martin and Maddalena Fagandini
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.)
Commenting Standards on Hey Dullblog
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, [...]
Paul Is Dead Open Thread
Worst Hanukkah EVER In case you hadn't noticed, here at Dullblog, we live to serve. One of the topics that seems to be of persistent interest — particularly to Beatle fans under 40 — is the theory that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. (My personal theory is that Paul committed suicide so he wouldn't have to go through the Get Back/Let It Be sessions.) While there are lots of places to discuss PID on the internet, I'm creating this open thread so that people who want to dig into all the ins-and-outs of this [...]
George Martin Tribute on Twenty-First Century Radio
"We have a ghost in our house in the country...he smokes a pipe." Commenter Linda sent me some interesting links to last night's two-hour George Martin tribute on Twenty-First Century Radio, hosted by Dr. Bob Hieronimus. Baltimore-based radio host and artist Hieronimus seems to be somewhat Art Bell-ish, but with a definite Beatles bent (he's written a whole book on Yellow Submarine). Hieronymus interviewed Martin six times between 1995 and 2007. Says Linda, "This is definitely interview material I have not encountered before — George Martin and Dr. Bob discuss ghosts, life elsewhere in the universe, ecological concerns... a departure from the [...]
Benjamin Levi Marks has a new Anthology cooking
Beatles at Twickenham, 1969 This morning, I awoke to a nice comment from Benjamin Levi Marks, the world's pre-eminent scholar on the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. : "Hey! Long time since I checked in. I have finally retired, which frees up a lot of time and energy. This allows me to move forward with my dissection of one month of the Beatles’ career (January, 1969). I certainly fit your blog subtitle to the ‘T’ (People who think about the Beatles maybe a little too much). Mea culpa! Like many of us, I read and was bowled over by the [...]
George Martin, King of the Bond Theme
"Name's Martin. George Martin." Some of you know that I'm a very big, but very picky, fan of James Bond. So much so that -- if Bystander ever gives me a couple months' off -- I'm planning a novel designed to be the ultimate Fleming-era Bond book. It should be great fun. But even I did not know that George Martin produced Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger". Add this to 1973's "Live and Let Die," and it's clear that, in addition to all of his other accolades, Sir George has to be considered the King of the Bond Theme. https://youtu.be/Fy_PJODH3p0 https://youtu.be/IqdqAAzjgDE
First 1000 Words: 16 in 64
Marti presents the plaque, 1964. From 16 in 64. Folks, print publishing may be dying (says the publisher of a magazine) but one subgenre is going quite strong — books about The Beatles. It's a rare month that I don't receive an email from a publisher, publicist or author telling me about a book they're sure Dullblog readers will enjoy. We try to cover as many of them as possible, but so many slip through the cracks. Ivor Davis' book, for example, has been glaring at me for years (in a way that Ivor himself would never). So I've decided to open [...]