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Soviet Hippies
In our recent conversation regarding Revolver and Pepper the historical setting of The Beatles in general and those albums in particular have come up a lot. How much should historical context matter when judging an artistic work? Should it matter at all? Does something as squishy as historical importance trump more concrete metrics like sales […]
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Lennon and…John?
I don’t know about you, but this always felt like a real friendship to me. Commenter @Hologram Sam dropped this into a comment thread but I thought it was worth making into a post. In Elton John’s new autobiography, Me, he tells of a meeting he had with Yoko Ono in the early 80s (had […]
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George Harrison’s Last Interview
Ran across this yesterday for the millionth time and wanted to share; George was an interesting dude. A month later, he was diagnosed with throat cancer—making this George Harrison’s last interview. George’s core struggle is right here. He spoke the wisdom, saw and felt that it was true, but (for example) smoked so much he […]
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Where would John Lennon have moved?
This morning I had a stray thought: what would John Lennon have done if he’d survived? Where would he have gone? Now don’t get too excited: I was all set to write a big long thinky post about this, but today has been nothing but furious fingers typing typing typing, so I will keep it […]
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Happy Birthday John Lennon, wherever you are!
Lennon with a “UFO Detector,” 1965. Photo by Brian Duffy. October 9th is, as every Beatle fan knows, John Lennon’s birthday. I am sure he is celebrating along with us, probably on some distant planet. (“Dear People of Earth, all I want for my birthday is an impeachment. You know who.”) An old family friend […]
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Beatleg Stories
Whatever time you’re reading this, chances are I’m doing the same thing: furiously pedaling my bike en route to my local repertory movie theater, fifteen minutes late for some old movie, with no lights (I know I know) and some truly awful Beatles outtake blaring in my ears. Probably 25% of all the room on […]
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Stephen Kroninger Draws John Lennon
Master illustrator Stephen Kroninger has contributed this portrait of John Lennon to Bystander #13. I thought you might like to see it. (Yes, it’s illustrating a column of mine. Naturally.) John Lennon, by Stephen Kroninger, from The American Bystander #13. In addition to being a serious Beatles/Lennon fan, Stephen’s a genius. He’s done a couple […]
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Beatle interviews, 1969-70
With Mark Lewisohn lately touting the recording of a business meeting where an album after Abbey Road was being discussed, I was particularly interested in this YouTube edit of interviews with all four Beatles during the same period. (BTW, I’ve heard tell of Lennon’s carve-up plan for decades—four songs for him, four songs for Paul, […]
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Getting Better (Take 1)
A quick check-in with two goodies from the Pepper Super Deluxe Edition. Ooh, Take 1! I love how HEAVY the heavy part is, and how bright and optimistic the pianet is. Nobody did dynamic range like the Beatles. You can see how easily they could’ve done “heavy” rock, if the mood had struck. I’ve always […]
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Sgt Pepper Versus Revolver
Friend Stephen Kroninger sent me this list of the Beatles best albums today; not surprisingly, Revolver edged out Sgt. Pepper (with Abbey Road at #2!). This led to some interesting thoughts regarding Sgt Pepper versus Revolver, which I wanted to share. I’ve written about my love for Pepper many times before (probably most lucidly here), […]