"Don’t touch Neil. He’s ours."
Neil Aspinall and Paul McCartney in 1969. Allan Kozinn, the NYT's resident Beatle expert, writes a top-notch obit of Neil Aspinall. And Beatle biographer Hunter Davies has some interesting things to say about Neil here. Hey Dullblog--your one-stop Neil Aspinall obituary source. Re: the photo: Sixties fashions were incredibly unkind to men over 25, don't you think?
Send good vibes to Neil Aspinall
The right hand of the Fab Four. I heard this morning that Neil Aspinall, ex-Apple Corps exec and long-time right hand man to the Fabs, is seriously ill with cancer and receiving treatment at Sloan-Kettering in NYC.Perhaps the grapevine is incorrect in this case; hope so. But if not, I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing Neil--or, as the [...]
The Vision of Joe Orton
DEVIN McKINNEY • The missing piece in the Beatles’ movie puzzle, the wild card in their deck, is Joe Orton. This enfant terrible of the British theater, in between epatering the ‘60s bourgeoisie with the likes of Entertaining Mr. Sloane and Loot, wrote a screenplay for the Beatles at the commission of producer Walter Shenson. Adapted from an early, unpublished novel and [...]
Dullblog Calendar
By our own Devin McKinney. Go buy it, you'll like it. ED PARK • Next Tuesday (March 25) at 7 p.m., Dullblogger Devin McKinney, author of Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History, will appear at a Barnes & Noble in New York, as part of "1968 Week." You don't want to miss this! He'll be at the B&N on [...]
My night of Rutlesmania
The Faux Fabs. People fortunate enough to witness a defining moment in human history always say the same thing: you can sense it happening. It’s as if there’s a subtle vibration, a whiff of something special in the air. If that’s true, no place in the world stank harder than Hollywood this past Monday night, as a majority of the [...]
Baby’s in Black: Answer to Dullblog Trivia Question #2
Ozz shows off his Beatles CD collection GUEST POST BY EUGENE • Sorry for the delay, but I think it's finally time to answer Trivia Question #2, four weeks on (my newborn is an excuse for all things tardy or haphazard these days). Here's the original question: Over the decades, each of the Beatles worked on a musical collaboration that [...]
Seth Swirsky: Magical Mystery Tourist
One of these people is George Martin. The other is Seth Swirsky. This morning on "Breakfast with the Beatles," Chris Carter interviewed a friend of his, Seth Swirsky, a songwriter/author/blogger/jack-of-all-trades who is (naturally) a Beatles fan. (Here's Seth's photo with George Martin at the "LOVE" premiere in Las Vegas, 2006.) Seth is finishing a documentary called "A Year in the [...]
Beatlespooks, Ch. 1: The Phantom Guardsman of Strawberry Fields
Frames from the “Strawberry Fields” promo film, shot January 30, 1967, in Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent. DEVIN McKINNEY • At first, Paul is sanguine, at his ease, perhaps even lofty on teasmoke. But what does he spy, reflected in the varnished piano of a Kentish night? A Beatle aide caught [...]
Gratuitous yet agreeable mention
ED PARK • "I don't believe we've even halfway explored the world of salads yet—that would be like asking the Beatles in the 1960s if they'd run out of songs!" —Jamie Oliver, Cook With Jamie