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 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 [...]
The Fab Four as you've never seen them before!
Some people get Mania, others get Pandemonium Brother/good influence Jack Gerber just sent me this great cover of John Lennon's "Isolation" by JL's close friend/bad influence Harry Nilsson. It was unreleased until 2008, when it appeared as a bonus track on Aerial Pandemonium Ballet. Lennon covers almost never come close to the original; Lennon's paramount gift was to make his material feel so personal, indubitably his. It bothered him, especially post-Beatles, that fewer people covered his songs than covered Paul's, but you can understand why -- who could possibly equal his originals. Still, this version of Isolation holds its own, [...]
You forgot "Fluoridation" This afternoon, while trolling the internet for something to listen to while I was in the bath, I stumbled upon this podcast from rockcritics.com, which proved to be a very interesting roundup of Beatle tomage by Tim Riley, author of Tell Me Why (and a bio of John Lennon which I will doubtless purchase and read). Our own D. McKinney is singled out and glorified, rightly so. Anybody reading Dullblog who hasn't read Magic Circles should go do so immediately. I move we should assemble a essential Beatle Bookshelf. Any seconds? PS--In finding the photo for this [...]
I must confess, I did not own the album A Hard Day's Night until fairly recently. So when I finally did get a copy, I discovered with pleasure that there were still a few new-to-me Beatles songs out there, namely "Any Time at All" and "When I Get Home" (which didn't make it into the movie). The latter pops up on my iPod Shuffle now and then, and every time I hear it, this lyric makes me snort: When I get home tonightI'm gonna hold her tightI'm gonna love her till the cows come home What I love about these lines is [...]
Nyah! My 2c: People who hate The Beatles should really be hating all the musicians that came after The Beatles. It's not James Joyce's fault that nobody's topped Ulysses in that form, nor is it The Beatles fault that Revolver still kicks ass when it comes to the three-minute rock song form. I like Amy Mann, but my being bored with The Beatles doesn't make her music better than theirs. It just makes me bored with The Beatles, and especially receptive to something else. It's a drag, but there it is; maybe it was a coalescing of talents that hasn't [...]
Lennon on the cover of Newsweek, Dec. 22, 1980. Guys, just wanted to let everybody know that an essay I wrote on the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's murder--and what I plan to do to commemorate it--is up at The Huffington Post. Welcome fellow Dullblogger Devin McKinney to The December 8th Project!
[This morning, as we were listening to Breakfast with the Beatles, my wife Kate launched into a long analysis of the Beatles photo that Apple has been using for its campaign, the McBroom session of April, 1969. I thought what she said was really funny and interesting, so I asked her to share it.--MG] Thanks to the combination of the Apple/iTunes Beatle campaign and the fact that I was reloading the Apple site every five minutes on Thanksgiving night (looking for the Black Friday discount that made it possible to buy the spiffy new laptop on which I am writing this email), [...]