David Bailey documentary: Four Beats to the Bar, and No Cheating
MIKE GERBER • In the process of relinking and refurbishing this site, I was reminded of a David Bailey documentary that I watched late last year. I think you might enjoy it — it's called "Four Beats to the Bar, and No Cheating." Well worth your time. http://youtu.be/zDjLXi-BPCA Will I ever get enough of the BBC? Probably not. And I know I [...]
David Bailey shoots Brian Epstein and the Beatles
Devin just posted this wonderful photo of Brian Epstein on Facebook. When I asked him about it, he told me it was taken by David Bailey. Which led me, as the internet does, to this shot of BE from Bailey's famous 1964 Box of Pinups: Also in Box of Pinups was this photo below, my all-time favorite John and Paul shot. (John himself [...]
The Beatles and the Krays
Reggie (left) and Ronnie Kray, photographed by David Bailey For those (mostly American?) readers who haven't run across Ronnie and Reggie Kray, they were a pair of murderous twin brother gangsters who ruled the London underworld in the 1960s. Probably the most notorious British criminals since Jack the Ripper (sorry, Crippen). Before settling down to serious lawbreaking, the Krays were [...]
Robert Freeman, Photographer of the Beatles
On this busy Sunday (busy for me at least), let us pause for a moment to remember Robert Freeman, the man responsible for many of the most iconic images of the Beatlemania years. Freeman took the photos for With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, HELP, and Rubber Soul, plus a proposed cover for Revolver that, if you ask [...]
The Beatles and Richard Avedon: Two Outtakes
Ran across these last night, and thought I'd share. I think Avedon's portraits of The Beatles are my favorite (with David Bailey's a close second).
Above Us Only Sky: New “Imagine” Documentary
"Imagine" is already the most well-examined John Lennon album, but the new A&E documentary Above Us Only Sky is well worth watching. Here's the network's description: "This special traces the untold story of the making of John Lennon's 1971 album "Imagine." Utilizing never-before-seen footage of Lennon and Ono from their private archive, the special delves into the depth of the creative collaboration [...]
Rest in Peace, Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein, photographed by David Bailey, 1964 Chris Carter's ever-excellent "Breakfast With the Beatles" reminded me that today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Brian Epstein, the original Beatles obsessive. I've written a lot about Brian on this here site, as my own journey through showbiz has proven how important support people are to any showbiz success story. [...]
John Lennon: Man of the Decade
Guest Dullblogger Chris Dingman has just written a very interesting and well-expressed post on Paul McCartney's essential contribution to the Lennon/McCartney partnership, and you should probably read that before reading this. This post began as a comment to that post, but as I wrote I felt it ranged too widely, and touched on something too essential, not to be surfaced on its [...]
Fab Foto Fakes: Photoshopping Beatles History
DEVIN McKINNEY • There used to be a fun little shadow business going in fake Beatles records—songs with a Beatlesque sound, or just a Beatle-sounding name on the label, that got taken, however briefly and inexplicably, for the real thing. The Knickerbockers’ highly convincing knockoff “Lies” lay at one end of the scale, with something like “The Girl I Love” by “the [...]
Thoughts on the Python Reunion (and the Beatles)
Just got back from watching Monty Python Live (Mostly), the filmed record of the Python reunion concerts performed at London’s O2 Theatre last month. It was — and I say this as someone who bought the expensive tickets primarily out of affection — a ball, a delight; if you can see it, go see it. The two and a half hours flew [...]