Excellent photos of the Fabs…
...can always be found at the blog If Charlie Parker Was A Gunslinger. Just thought I'd pass it along. (If my last trip to Taschen is correct, I think this photo was taken by Harry Benson.)
Introducing…the Indian Beatles!
Boing Boing pointed me to this post at Bolus which shows just what 1964 wrought. It's not pretty. Are you ready for a Bollywood version of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"? I DON'T THINK YOU ARE.Wherever he is, George just threw up in his mouth...Still, I just listened to it twice, and may go back for a third.
My love does it good
The Bonnie Benrubi Gallery in NYC is showing an exhibit of Linda McCartney's photographs through the end of the month. It looks very worth a visit, in person or online: pictures of the family, some great behind-the-scenes Beatles shots, and some portraits of other luminaries. The image they're using to advertise the show -- titled "My Love" -- is pretty terrific: My Love (1978) by Linda McCartney
Ram’s Resurgence
[After the millionth insightful comment by our indefatigable Nancy, we asked her if there was anything Beatley burning a hole in her well-furnished brains. This is what she wrote; give her a warm Hey Dullblog welcome.--MG] NANCY CARR • When it was released in 1971, Ram was hated—really hated, to the point of practically being crushed and melted—by many rock critics. Rolling Stone’s Jon Landau inveighed against it as “the nadir in the decomposition of Sixties rock thus far,” calling it “incredibly inconsequential” and “monumentally irrelevant.” Robert Christgau was kinder, giving it a C+ and sniffing “If you’re going to be eccentric, [...]
A box of LPs from the States.
From this lovely series of photos. (h/t Boing Boing)
More vinyl bootleg memories…
Sessions (Odeon Fake): One of my favorite Beatlegs as a kid. After my earlier post, a commenter over at my Facebook page joggled my memories a bit more. I thought it might be fun to ask everybody, "What were your favorite Beatles bootlegs?" Not necessarily the best, but the ones that played the biggest role in your fandom? In my teenaged years (1980-87), my most beloved vinyl boots were The Beatles at the Beeb 3-lp set, Hahst Az Son, Beatles Not For Sale, Strawberry Fields Forever, File Under: Beatles, and a version of Sessions (the abortive Anthology precursor). (The links [...]
My teenage years in handy YouTube format
I spent about ten years of my life holed up in an attic obsessively listening to Beatles bootlegs (that's what we had to do, back in the days before Anthology, BBC, and remasters) on vinyl (that's what we had to do, back in the days before mp3s and Purple Chick torrents). I studied them like Torah; not only did they satisfy my lust for new Beatle music, bootlegs were one of the few things that sounded perfectly fine on my JC Penney stereo. None of my pals really understood why I did this, and I never understood why they DIDN'T. Listening to [...]
Happy birthday, George!
Today (or yesterday, depending on when you asked him) would've been George Harrison's 68th birthday. Don't think about that too hard, because you'll suddenly remember all the really shitty people who made it to 68 and are still going strong. Henry Kissinger. Charles Manson. Oh well. I guess God doesn't want to be around those guys any more than we do. Thanks to commenter Gabriel McCann for unearthing this video. http://youtu.be/AarhZScyuz0
The Beatles First American Concert
The moptops in action amid a hail of jelly babies, February 1964. Last night, I was lucky enough to see the closed-circuit film of The Beatles' first American concert, given February 11, 1964, in Washington, DC. The film was broadcast in March, 1964, to movie theaters all across the country--then languished in somebody's basement until the mid-90s, when it was handed over to an archivist. I don't know why it hasn't enjoyed a proper release; my guess is wrangles over rights and royalties. But whatever: WOW. You NEED to see this film. Beatles first American concert… and their best? When [...]