Ziggy Stardust was McCartney? Could be…
J.R. Clark, guest Dullblogger • Of the many personas David Bowie created during his entertainment career, perhaps none was more memorable and influential than the protagonist of his song, “Ziggy Stardust”. The song tells the story of a musician in a rock band who becomes famous. The fame makes him conceited; he seizes control of the band from the other members, and the fame ultimately destroys [...]
BB King, 1925-2015
C. 1966: Dig the Beatle boots. “But the other part of me says, ‘Well, I wish I could just do it like B.B. King.’ If you put me with B.B., I’ll feel silly. … I really like B.B. King.” — John Lennon Riley B. King, former disc jockey and blues guitarist, dead at age 89. Few who enjoy this site [...]
George & Ringo: The Brothers Fab
By Michael Ray, Guest Dullblogger • Discuss the Beatles and much has been made regarding the brotherhood of its two principal players, John Lennon and Paul McCartney: a team – collaboratively and spiritually. Such a force is hard to deny. But there is another brotherhood that rarely gets mention, a true musical expression of love and respect between the remaining members of [...]
London researchers say Beatles not revolutionary
NANCY CARR * A study just issued by researchers at Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London asserts that the Beatles' success in mid-60s America was anything but revolutionary. According to Professor Armand Leroi, the paper's senior author, “They were good looking boys with great haircuts and British accents but as far as their music was concerned they weren’t anything new.” [...]
The Fab Five: My Top 5 Beatles Albums
By Jack Cornes, Guest Dullblogger • I should just add before I run through this list that the Beatles were genial from their origin to the day they disbanded. Every album they made is magical, sensual and transforming. I adore all of them. The strange thing with the Beatles is that they were and are so unique that they can’t be described; [...]
George Starostin on “McLemore Avenue”
We got the front . . . . NANCY CARR * My favorite music reviewer, the indefatigable George Starostin, has just published this review of Booker T. and the M.G.'s McLemore Avenue. He calls it "the first authentic case of musical cosplay in pop/rock history," and I have to concur, though I enjoy the results more than he does. [...]
Ringo honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
DEVIN McKINNEY • As the karmic wheel turns: balancing out my snarky but I think accurate estimation of The Magic Christian (see the panel to your right), comes today from Salon this informed, comprehensive, well-written, and generally right-on appreciation of Ringo Starr’s truest talent and most immeasurable contribution: his musicianly drumming. Authored by Patrick Berkery, a journeyman drummer who writes for Modern [...]
Starrtime: Defining Moments from Ringo’s non-Beatle movies (2)
If you thought Candy sucked rubber, point your innocent eyeballs in the direction of The Magic Christian, a film with similar components—Terry Southern novel, Ringo Starr one face among many in a ridiculously eclectic, overqualified cast—and find yourself trapped in the Fourth Dimension of Suck. All that I remember of the novel from a high-school reading is that Ringo’s character, a homeless [...]
Cynthia Lennon: 1939-2015
The news today that Cynthia Lennon, ne Powell, is dead at the age of 75 has hit me, and I’m certain many others, with unexpected force. As her book A Twist of Lennon (one of the better Beatles-insider memoirs) made clear—without ever seeming bitter or vengeful about it—sweet Cynthia often got the shit end of the genius stick. She and John, I [...]