Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

What to do in Liverpool?

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-30T17:24:43-08:00January 30, 2015|Liverpool|

"I've got my eye on you, Lennon." Folks, my friend Ben Orlin just wrote to say that he and his wife are taking a daytrip to Liverpool tomorrow. He knows I struggle with Chronic Recurrent Beatlemania (CRB), so he kindly asked, "Anything you want me to photograph/purchase/graffiti for you?" Of course I'm wilting under the pressure -- I'm a writer, not an improvisor, for God's sake -- but I thought Dullblog's teeming millions might have some good ideas. 1) What should Ben photograph? 2) Any Beatle purchases that aren't cheesy, aren't expensive, and that can be shipped Stateside? 3) Any [...]

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Art and the 60s

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-19T10:35:41-08:00January 19, 2015|Art, Documentaries|

Yesterday, I watched the BBC Four documentary "Art and the 60s," which tells the story of Swinging London through its two iconic galleries, the Kasmin Gallery, and (of course) Robert Fraser's Robert Fraser Gallery. http://youtu.be/7anAtAgEpFs "Groovy Bob" was great pals with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Brian Epstein (and even greater pals with the Rolling Stones, to the point of famously being busted with them at Keith's house in February 1967). That bust dealt Fraser and his Gallery a mortal blow -- even though he reportedly had "a wonderful time" serving a six-month sentence in Wormwood Scrubs. Fraser's Beatles connections were many, [...]

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Mick Jagger on The Rutles

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-17T12:58:11-08:00January 17, 2015|comedy, Eric Idle, Rutles|

Cash is all you need… If you haven't seen All You Need is Cash, the 1978 Python/SNL jam that created the Rutles, you're in for a treat. We've covered the Rutles before on Dullblog -- here -- here -- and here -- but I just ran across a transcript of the interview with Mick Jagger from the movie. "QUESTION: Were they trying to sell you songs at that stage? MICK: A bit later on they did, yeh. The one for that was Dirk really. He was a real hustler for the songs. Any old slag he'd sell a song to. [...]

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Thank God for Abbey Road

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-14T18:17:51-08:00January 14, 2015|1969, Abbey Road|

The Beatles, not worrying about global warming, 1969. In the midst of a comment thread, I stumbled on an interesting thought which I wanted to open to the group: how do you think The Beatles' legacy would've been different if they'd never returned to the studio after Let It Be? My initial, instinctual thought is that the group's demise would've been even more mythic, even more shrouded by "what might have been." The rich sprawl of White seems to invite a follow-up of the quality of Abbey Road, and had the wet firecracker of Let It Be been The Beatles' [...]

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Apple Jam: Off the Beatle Track

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-12T15:45:12-08:00January 12, 2015|Beatle-inspired, Covers|

Oh, you'll like this In the process of refurbishing Nancy Carr's earlier post on the Seattle-based Beatle-tribute band Apple Jam, I discovered these videos and had to pass them on. 2009's "Off the Beatle Track" is Apple Jam doing an LP's worth Lennon/McCartney songs never released by the Beatles (a recent obsession of mine) in the style of the early Beatles. What I'm noticing as I listen to this stuff is the pure songwriting chops; the variation between songs and sounds, the multitude of hooks. And Apple Jam's performance is convincing me that, if The Beatles had wanted to apply [...]

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Mark Britton: Odds and Sodd

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-10T18:36:23-08:00January 10, 2015|Beatle-inspired, Over the Transom|

Man on a mission-style chair: Singer-songwriter Mark Britton Singer-songwriter (and devoted Dullblog reader) Mark Britton recently pointed me to his latest collection of songs, called "Odds and Sodd." (Sodd is, apparently, a sort of empty-the-icebox Norwegian soup.) "Odds and Sodd" is very Beatle-influenced, he wrote me, and Mark Britton don't lie. I'm listening to it right now, and really enjoying it. Take a listen here on Soundcloud. Which tracks does Mark think Dullbloggers should start with? "I’d suggest 'Family Guy' as probably the most Beatley. Followed by Dear Rosa." But y'know, it's all sounding damn good to me -- I'm [...]

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McCartney’s DJ Chris Holmes

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-07T16:39:50-08:00January 7, 2015|concert, Covers, Remixes & Mashups|

LA-based DJ Chris Holmes. Now that I know what he looks like, maybe I'll bump into him. Rolling Stone comes in for a lot of licks here on Dullblog, mostly from me, mostly for its role in canonizing Lennon and demonizing McCartney in the early 70s. But they've gotten their act together since then, and the Stone's relentless Boomer-focus means that they do get into some interesting Beatle-related nooks and crannies. This article for example, on McCartney's DJ Chris Holmes. Holmes' mixes have been warming up Paul's crowd since 2009; he provided his set to RollingStone.com, and I've been listening [...]

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The Many Faces of Coming Up

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-06T21:55:11-08:00January 6, 2015|1980, solo|

In addition to famously sparking John Lennon's dormant creative flame, "Coming Up" has proven itself to be one of the most versatile songs in Paul McCartney's catalog. Here's the original, from 1980's McCartney II. Crisp and clean and plenty of caffeine. http://youtu.be/NnHu-WLvY5U Now the single, which was performed by Wings in Glasgow, 1979. http://youtu.be/EXNFynXEow0 And here's the great, funkified version Macca did at Knebworth, in 1990. http://youtu.be/xkoFdUrNTpw Finally, here's the Twin Freaks' remix, which I was obsessed with for a solid month back in 2012. Must've been something about the Mayan Calendar. http://youtu.be/EdsRYyTDEN8

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Songs the Beatles Didn’t Do

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-06T17:29:52-08:00January 5, 2015|Unreleased/Outtakes|

Just waiting for PJ Proby to make it famous. Over the weekend I Stumbled Upon this great little webpage, which was compiled by Columbia U. Beatlefan Joseph Brennan 'way back in the heady days of the late 90s, when the vaults of Abbey Road were still exhaling their treasures. I've always wanted to do a post that was a one-stop shop for all the tracks like this, and Brennan's page seemed like as good a starting-point as any. Commentariat, I'm counting on you to add more to it. A Beatles/JPGR-version is linked to the title; and the cover version is [...]

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Paul McCartney and Kanye West: “Only One”

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-02T19:18:24-08:00January 2, 2015|Paul McCartney|

Paul McCartney and Kanye West at the Grammys in 2009. If this track's any gauge of what's to come, Paul McCartney and Kanye West is a match made in heaven. Kanye's singing, Paul's on the organ. According to Stereogum, "Kanye and Sir Paul started recording together early last year in a Los Angeles bungalow with McCartney improvising on keyboard and West improvising on vocals." Kanye says this about the lyrics of "Only One": “My mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter.” The poignancy of that surely wasn't lost on McCartney.

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About Michael Gerber