Lennon on McCartney and Ono: interview recordings newly available
We're rolling, John Salon is highlighting interview recordings made by Cass Calder Smith, including a few with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, that are now available via iTunes. Two Lennon/Ono excerpts are available for free streaming here. Smith was a New York radio host when he made the tapes; he's now in his mid-70s, and his son has taken over [...]
I wonder if we can get a Dullblog bulk discount?
If anyone will know, it's Mark Lewisohn MIKE GERBER • Volume One of Mark Lewisohn's Beatles bio series is slated for October, promising to be full of Lewisohn's trainspotter-y goodness! Just who was Torchy the Battery-Boy, and how did he influence a young Paul McCartney? Did George Harrison first read two of the Four Noble Truths scrawled on the wall [...]
A few fab cakes
The Cakewrecks blog focuses on those occasions when "professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong," but on Sundays it features successful confectionary feats. If you're in the mood for something sweet, you can read the whole post, which includes a dozen Beatles cakes, here.
Harmony lesson: "This Boy"
I stumbled upon this video and just had to share it, not only because the guy is strangely gripping to watch, but also because it reminded me exactly why I love, and will always come back to, The Beatles: their music is thrillingly, achingly beautiful. Thanks, guys.So enjoy. And I dare you not to sing along.
Taxi cab
http://youtu.be/9MMeUe8p9jc Via Beatles fan Colin Fleming's FB feed: Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, "Brand New Cadillac." (Also of interest to Clash fans.) Is it Ringo?
Tony Sheridan, 1940-2013
Tony Sheridan, an essential part of The Beatles' early story, has died. To quote Chris Carter from KLOS' "Breakfast With the Beatles," without Tony Sheridan, "we wouldn't have had The Beatles in the way we did." Allan Kozinn agrees: "Though Mr. Sheridan’s involvement with the Beatles was brief, it proved crucial to their career."Apparently he settled down in northern Germany. Here's the [...]
It’s Yoko’s birthday. Let the abuse begin.
DEVIN McKINNEY • Recommended reading on Yoko's birthday. (Anyone have party plans?) Even if it does come from the dread Slate, it's one of the few halfway objective assessments you're going to find on the Internet (kind of a dread place in general, sometimes).
The less-than-best cover
DEVIN McKINNEY • Mike said he'd be curious to see this (see comments to "The best cover" below). It was purchased in a bodega on a dusty side street in Ariquipa, Peru, late 1990s. Far from the strangest item in my Beatles closet, but far from the least interesting. (I should specify: This is not properly speaking a bootleg, but a pirate [...]
The best cover
Via original Dulblogger Hua, here's an interview with Rutherford Chang, an artist whose current show/exhibit consists entirely of White Albums (my kind of exhibit!). Q: Are you a vinyl collector? A: Yes, I collect White Albums. Q: Do you collect anything other than that? A: I own some vinyl and occasionally buy other albums, but nothing in multiples like the White Album. Q: Why just White Album? [...]