Itinerary for a Beatle-themed trip to London and Liverpool
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 [...]
The Beatles’ 13th Album?
The glorious team blog Boing Boing linked today to an article on Formidable Mag—their guess as to what a 13th Beatles LP might've sounded like. Their surmises are, to my mind, riddled with errors and misunderstandings—that, for example, the always intellectually restless Fabs would recycle a rejected title for Abbey Road three years later; that they had “basically stopped collaborating on songs [...]
Revolver Deluxe Edition Open Thread
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. [...]
From Faith Current: “Fool on the Hill: The Myth of Perfectionist Paul”
Folks, here's an interesting revision of opinion from Faith on Paul McCartney. Enjoy—MG. I got it wrong. Back in April, I wrote a piece for Hey Dullblog about Paul’s choice to put Linda in his band (“I’m Gonna Go WIth Linda on Keyboards”). It included this paragraph: Paul seems to have been the one who protested loudest about Stu’s and Pete’s musical [...]
Draft Ringo for PM!
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!
From Victoria: Oracle’s spoken: John Green’s Dakota Days (1983)
When Victoria, a regular commenter here on Dullblog, asked if she could write up a review of John Green's out-of-print book Dakota Days, I immediately said "yes!" I remember reading it as deep background for my comic novel Life After Death for Beginners, and finding its glimpses into soothsaying and John and Yoko fascinating and maddening in equal measure. Here are her [...]
Various musings on Lennon and Addiction
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 [...]
Try it, you might like it
(And now, a brief word from our sponsor…) The latest issue of my print humor magazine, The American Bystander #23, is all about the Seventies. Given that so much of this blog talks about that very distinctive time, I thought I'd hondle everybody. Try it, you'll like it—and at just $5 for a PDF and $20 for a print edition, how wrong [...]
Reader question: “Thoughts on Prisoner of Love?”
"Hmm...I did not know that" Reader @Maya writes in to ask: "Hi, Michael. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the cancelation of Peter Doggett’s book on Lennon’s Dakota Days, Prisoner of Love: Inside the Dakota with John Lennon that was meant to be released April of last year. It would have been so great to have a book on [...]