Regular commenter Victoria has patiently untangled the saga of John Lennon's diaries, sorting through books and clippings to present us with an account worthy of film noir. I hope you find it as fascinating as I did. BTW, forgive any typos or funky formatting; I'm having terrible trouble with the backend. Just note any in the comments and I'll fix.—MG There are certain Beatles-related artifacts that are known to us, yet remain tantalizingly out of reach: one famous example is Japanese Jailbird, Paul McCartney’s 20,000-word account of his nine-day-long imprisonment in Japan in 1980 due to a pot bust. But the Holy [...]

Four unidentified musicians, ca. 1969 Through the magic of the internet (actually my friend @comicthief on the rapidly decaying Twitter) I stumbled upon this chunk of fine writing by Ian Leslie on Peter Jackson's Get Back. So many solid insights here, I'll forgive the insane length. I always feel so bad castigating contemporary writers for their prolixity; it's just contemporary style. But ye gods, we need Doctors Without Borders, but for Editors. Leslie warns you right up top, then makes it too good to stop reading in the middle. Unfair! :-) Anyway, read it. It's Dulbloggy, and you'll enjoy it.

I refuse to go to London unless I can see Paul's Magic Piano. Folks, a contributor is planning a trip to the UK in January and sent me this list of places to visit. "Did I miss any?" This, I thought, is a job for the commentariat! Did she miss any? Where else should she go? London British library Paul McCartney exhibit Abbey Road Cavendish Kenwood AppleLiverpool 20 Forthlin Mendips Julia’s house Casbah Cavern (such as it is) Gambier Terrace Liverpool Institute/Inny Beatles Museum Museum of Liverpool (Beatles exhibit) Jacaranda Grosvenor Litherland St. Peter’s Church (need to email to see [...]

I lasted approximately thirty seven hours before I broke down and listened to the new mixes from Revolver Deluxe—thanks, bad influences, you know who you are. I was trying to hold out until Christmas morning. And I still plan to unbox the physical item on 9 am sharp December 25th. But in the meantime, here's a thread to contain all the burbling. It's worth burbling over. To prime the pump, go check out this article on Slate, which I liked—rather unexpectedly so because Slate's motto should be "Where interesting topics go to die." And this interview with Giles Martin on the "how" [...]

As John F. Lyons (@JohnFLyons2) wrote on Twitter: "They have a vacancy, and he couldn't do worse!" Vote Ringo Starr on the Peace & Love Platform!    

E arlier this week, reader @Maya wrote me, knowing full well the flood of words that this would cause: “Hey, just wondering your thoughts on this video. At around the 1:20:00 mark, Lewisohn says that he thinks John and Yoko weren’t addicted to heroin? This is really throwing me and has got me worried about his third volume, should it ever be released.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ-BMzJyGGA Having listened to the relevant bit, @Maya, I have to say I’m worried too. Strap in folks, this is gonna be a long one--I don't have time to write it shorter. A couple of things to [...]