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 [...]
Mad King John
Right next to today's news of the Queen Elizabeth II's passing, there appeared in my Twitter feed this photo of John in 1967, dressed in togs from "I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet" or some such. Which made me think: what would've happened if, through some terrible mix-up or unforgivable governmental chicanery, John Lennon had been crowed King of England in 1967? I'll [...]
Some thoughts on “Jailhouse Rock”
[Folks, this post may be a little rough because I'm having real trouble typing into the WordPress backend. Forgive any typos, etc.—MG] Elvis the Pelvis comin' at ya I’ve never seen Elvis’ breakthrough 1957 movie, Jailhouse Rock, because truth be told, I'm not the world's biggest Elvis fan. But I decided to watch it, specifically with an eye towards comparing [...]