Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Yet more banging on about Magical Mystery Tour

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-01T10:53:04-07:00December 18, 2012|1967, Magical Mystery Tour|

Magical Mystery Tour pie chart, 1967 This blog seemed to go through a phase where every second post was about how awesome Ram was/is. Go back and check the stream; it was amazing. Went on for months. And I support that, not just because Ram is awesome, but because this ol' world of ours is big enough to have one place where Ram-love flows freely, without fear. In that same spirit of being just bleeeaaagggrhhh…without in any way demeaning the White Album!—I present the following. This evening while trying to avoid doing my wife's Bialetti pot, I read this Slate review of [...]

38

Ravi works George out

By Michael Gerber|2013-08-09T00:15:46-07:00December 16, 2012|1968, George, Obituaries|

Reader Rupa S. pointed me to this great clip of George Harrison and Ravi Shankar from 1968 (before George decided to stick to guitar). RIP, Ravi Shankar. Glad to be alive at the same time you were. http://youtu.be/t79aI-I6ucA

3

Several Sides of Searchin’

By Michael Gerber|2012-12-06T01:27:00-08:00December 6, 2012|1962|

Alvin Robinson. I'm going through a bit of a Northern Soul period (c'mon, I'm always going through one of those), and found a nice version of the song "Searchin'," performed by Alvin Robinson in 1961.But of course readers of this blog might remember it from the guys' ill-fated Decca auditions…...which is much closer to the Coasters' original.

7

Did Yellow Submarine beget The Simpsons?

By Michael Gerber|2016-02-28T13:35:31-08:00December 4, 2012|1966, 1967, 1968, Obituaries|

Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein argues so in this (hotly debated) article for The Guardian. Without Yellow Submarine there would never have beenThe Simpsons, no Futurama, no South Park, no Toy Story, no Shrek. No animated anything that enables us to laugh at ourselves while being highly entertained. Naturally, I want to believe him. In my opinion, The Beatles (and -related) are that clear, burbling spring from which all good things flow. Of course the comments are alive with internet types, people who obsessively leapfrog each other in truth-owning appeals to obscure authority, who defiantly declare that Yellow Sub was/is shite and the REAL breakthroughs were the [...]

6

Gran and The Giggler in Granta

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:57:56-07:00November 30, 2012|1968, rishikesh|

Commenter Dorinish tipped us off to this lovely Beatle-related short story in Granta.

1

Vinyl remasters: To buy or not to buy?

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:58:01-07:00November 13, 2012|Uncategorized|

Three years after the CD remasters, we now have the vinyl remasters of the Beatles catalog. (Mono vinyl remasters to follow). The question is, are the remasters worth buying, if you already have Beatles vinyl in good condition?The decision is more complicated than it was for the CD remasters, because the Beatles CDs from the 1980s were fair to horrible-sounding. But the original Beatles vinyl versions still sound great if they've been well cared for.If you're trying to make up your mind, you'll be interested in the following Chicago Tribune piece, in which a panel compares the sound of old, new, and [...]

12

Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour Live

By Michael Gerber|2013-08-13T18:46:41-07:00October 22, 2012|Sgt. Pepper|

Beatles, 1967. This past Friday in Chicago I saw Tributosaurus play all of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Magical Mystery Tour" live, and it was astonishingly great. Hearing the whole thing performed with ALL the instruments originally used—a string section, woodwinds, brass, and a host of Indian instruments—underlined just how rich and rewarding these albums are. The greatest double album the Beatles ever made, in my opinion. Recordings aren't going to do this justice, but here's a clip of "A Day in the Life" that's been posted: http://youtu.be/w4Nv7aIFEjQ Here are a few of my favorite moments from the [...]

1

BBC Arena: "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited"

By Michael Gerber|2022-07-08T06:04:53-07:00October 18, 2012|1967, comedy, Magical Mystery Tour|

The Beatles relaxing during the filming of Magical Mystery Tour, 1967. Oh my god, I enjoyed this documentary on "Magical Mystery Tour." I think you will, too. As I watched the clips, I was reminded of both The Running Jumping Standing Still Film and The Bed-Sitting Room, among other things. MMT uses the same homely vernacular you see in everything from Spike Milligan to The Pythons, and twists it in a lot of the same ways. While it's old hat to compare MMT to Buñuel and the underground, it's maybe fairer (and more interesting) to place it astride the meandering line of British humor as [...]

11

Beatleology

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-08T10:03:04-08:00October 15, 2012|books|

John with Paul ascendent in the House of George, thanks It had to happen . . . . a book-length Beatles-based personality quiz, with explications of each type. Fortunately, the authors, Adam and Roger Jacquette, write with enough wit and panache to make it fun and illuminating.Beatles fans won't be too surprised at the traits linked to each member (for example, Pauls can be overbearing, and are soppy when they're in love, duh), but there's more depth to each characterization than I expected in a book of this type. If you take the quiz, you'll end up with both a [...]

6

A cover that tops the original

By Michael Gerber|2012-10-08T17:19:00-07:00October 8, 2012|Uncategorized|

I love this version of "My Brave Face," by SR-71, and think it's better than McCartney's original (which appeared on "Flowers in the Dirt.") SR-71's version is on "Listen to What the Man Said," a great 2001 compilation of McCartney covers.

9

About Michael Gerber