Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Beatles Songs In Latin

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-30T11:24:30-07:00June 30, 2019|Uncategorized|

“Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And for the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry." Rest assured, I didn't translate these myself; I took Latin for five years and never quite got the hang of it. But I got a kick out of these. Classicists, add more in the comments. heri (Yesterday)via longa et flexuosa (The Long and Winding Road)illa te amat (She Loves You) sit (Let It Be)trans mundum (Across the Universe) tantum dormio (I'm Only Sleeping) salve vale (Hello Goodbye)hic et illic et ubique (Here There and Everywhere) quidam dies in vita (A Day [...]

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A Touch of Nilsson in the Night…

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-26T23:01:44-07:00June 26, 2019|Harry NIlsson|

Well, it's night here in Santa Monica at least, erstwhile nest of Harry (and John and Paul, at least for a day or two in the Seventies), so I thought I'd share a few Pussycats-era demos from “The Beatles' favorite American artist.” (Thanks to the indefatigable Stephen Kroninger.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKEu4UDXbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTUL9LPy2Sw

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The Beatles and Richard Avedon: Two Outtakes

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-23T00:45:17-07:00June 23, 2019|Photos|

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).

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Pictures of Beatles and Pot?

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-21T13:01:35-07:00June 21, 2019|Drugs, Uncategorized|

I had a funny little thought today: we know the Beatles smoked a progidious amount of marijuana. Even Paul McCartney, the Beatle most likely to get you home by eleven p.m., smoked so relentlessly that he was actually thrown in jail for smuggling. But I couldn't recall a single photo of any Beatle with a joint, or even any paraphernalia. These, the most relentlessly photographed humans on Earth. No friend or fan ever snapped them with a doobie hanging from their lip? A statuesque bong lurking defiantly in a corner? It beggars the imagination. What about you? Ever seen one? Link to [...]

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All Hail the Rutles!

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-19T18:55:11-07:00June 19, 2019|Uncategorized|

I've mentioned this sublime Beatles parody band many times before on this blog, but if you love the Fabs there's never a good time not to celebrate the Pre-Fabs: Ron, Dirk, Stig and Barry. This afternoon I quite randomly happened to listen to "Let's Be Natural" and was struck, for the millionth time, what a wonderful bunch of work this all is. https://youtu.be/qin4o5TXfzw The Rutles began as a segment on Eric Idle's post-Python project "Rutland Weekend Television" (which also boasted an appearance by George Harrison). Thanks to the songwriting genius of Neil Innes, and an assist from Lorne Michaels, this bit was [...]

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Happy Birthday Paul McCartney, Friend of the Jews

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-18T12:08:30-07:00June 18, 2019|Uncategorized|

In honor of Macca's 77th, The Forward posted this little squib detailing Paul McCartney's various Jewish spouses, friends, business associates, et cetera. (This from Heeb aside, there is no evidence that McCartney has converted—though of course all his children would be considered Jewish under Hebraic law, because Linda was Jewish.)With all the Jews in and around the music biz, I actually think it's more remarkable that fully 50% of the group married alumnae of Sarah Lawrence. :-) Nevertheless—as far as The Beatles is concerned—the answer to the eternal question "Is it good for the Jews?" has got to be yes.

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Paul McCartney Makes Mashed Potatoes

By Michael Gerber|2019-05-25T14:50:00-07:00May 25, 2019|Uncategorized|

This man loved his wife. (I'm guessing he was promoting her cookbook.) https://youtu.be/WyyEc-GNDfQ Adding this after I posted it: GodDAMN but Paul McCartney is charming. I don't care if it's all just a big hustle, I just love the guy. Let us take a moment to, once again, be thankful for the brilliant stroke of luck that was The Beatles: what are the odds that these four guys would all be from the same town, all be great musicians, and all be incredibly charismatic people?

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Up Against It: BBC Radio Play from 1997

By Michael Gerber|2019-05-16T12:18:28-07:00May 16, 2019|1967|

Being a fan of both The Beat Brothers and doomed playwright Joe Orton, Up Against It has always been interesting to me. Brian Epstein rejected it, of course he did; Orton's outlaw sexuality was a total wrong fit for the Beatle-buying public circa 1967—but the mixing of two such strong, really important flavors from Swinging London is fascinating. In 1997, BBC Radio 3 presented a 90-minute adaptation of Up Against It. The cast included such luminaries as Leo McKern and Fawlty Towers' Prunella Scales. Having stayed up until 2am listening, I can attest that the finished product is grippingly strange. The segments [...]

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“Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out” acoustic demo

By Michael Gerber|2019-05-10T11:20:06-07:00May 10, 2019|1974|

With a few exceptions, demos are genial curiosities, adding context but little else to the standard version. You don't hear the song any different after. This one is an exception. Like a lot of folks, I've always found this song from Walls and Bridges particularly haunting, given where John Lennon was in his life (and vis a vis the music business); but this version really got me—the break at 3:36 is just amazing. Go listen. (h/t to Stephen Kroninger) (Stray thought: it might be fun to compile a list of truly essential demos, ones like “I'm Looking Through You." Put 'em in [...]

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Thoughts on Red and Blue?

By Michael Gerber|2019-05-06T21:03:44-07:00April 1, 2018|1973|

Songs from Beatlemania! Photo from 1968! AIEEEE Robert Rodriguez, author of Fab Four FAQ 2.0, popped up on my Facebook feed this evening touting an interesting anniversary: Thirty-five years ago tomorrow, on April 2, 1973, Apple/EMI released the Beatles compilations, 1962-66 and 1967-70. Or, as they were universally called, the Beatles Red and Blue Albums, respectively. Not surprisingly, these two LPs hit like a bomb (they'd sold 1.3 million of both sets by the end of that first year), and for lots of people, they became their introduction to the group. 1962-66 and 1967-1970 were a seminal expression of second phase [...]

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