Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

From Dangerous Minds: The Beatles’ In-House Astrologer

By Michael Gerber|2022-11-17T13:54:56-08:00June 10, 2013|1967, 1968, Apple, John Lennon|

Did Harrod's Food Court have an in-house astrologer, I wonder? Since the period of late-1967 to late-1968 has come up in several comment threads of late, I wanted to pass along this post from Richard Metzger's site Dangerous Minds. I'd never heard of The Beatles' astrologer Caleb Ashburton-Dunning before...I'd just sort of assumed the existence of someone like him. Or a whole bunch of someones. You really could get anything at the Apple Boutique, couldn't you? I personally do not use fortune-telling, seances or any other such stuff as a path towards good life-decisions, but I suspect that they could be, for [...]

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Time-Lapse Photography

By Michael Gerber|2013-08-05T04:48:44-07:00May 29, 2013|John and Paul, john and yoko, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Photos|

Eagle-eyed commenter Sonia posted this picture set regarding an earlier post, but I found it so striking, I wanted to give it a full post. David Bailey took the ones on the left. Anybody know who took the second set? John and Paul and John and Yoko

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Anybody else share your love?

By Michael Gerber|2013-08-05T17:52:24-07:00May 19, 2013|1970s, Beatle-inspired|

The Beatles are my ultimate "fave rave," as they might say on Ready Steady Go; their stuff has always, and probably will always, sound just right to me. (There are pictures of me circa 1970, a 1-year-old freaking out with pleasure over "Back in the USSR," which proves two things: a) It's not just nostalgia, I have always genuinely LOVED Beatle music; and b) not all of the White Album makes me want to send Therapists Without Borders back to 1968.) There's only one other person that reliably gives me the same flood of endorphins: Stevie Wonder. And only his stuff from [...]

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Hooray, or uh-oh, I can’t decide

By Michael Gerber|2013-08-07T04:34:55-07:00April 16, 2013|biography, books, John Lennon, Paul McCartney|

Beatle biographer Philip Norman is writing a new McCartney bio. The New York Times reports that Philip Norman has been signed to do a new McCartney bio. One part of me: all right! Other part of me: oh no. Philip Norman is an excellent writer, with a beyond-thorough grounding in the subject. There is nobody who possesses better tools with which to create the definitive biography of Paul McCartney. He's very smart, knows England of that period, knows rock, knows London, knows The Beatles, knows John Lennon. Unlike Miles, he's his own man; unlike Lewisohn, he's a journalist. Shout: The [...]

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Recording the White Album

By Michael Gerber|2013-09-02T08:09:52-07:00April 8, 2013|1968, The White Album|

Rejected cover for the White Album. Find out more about it here. Over on another thread, Anonymous posted the following question, which I thought was meaty enough to merit its own post: Hey guys, this is way off topic but if you get to it I'd love to hear your thoughts. The White Album was the first major project to use 8 track recording. I've recently read somewhere that the engineers were confused about the distinctive sound they produced and went so far as to check the machine. They later discovered it was the solid state mixing board that caused [...]

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David Bailey shoots Brian Epstein and the Beatles

By Michael Gerber|2013-11-06T19:27:08-08:00March 12, 2013|1965, Brian Epstein, John and Paul|

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 preferred another shot from the same session.) I adore David Bailey photos of The Beatles—and lots of other things, too. You can find many photos from Box of Pinups in this photoset. Well worth looking through if you love Swinging [...]

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Lennon: "Fascinating."

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:57:10-07:00March 9, 2013|1976, John Lennon|

In 1976, a fan mailed a questionnaire to Mr. Lennon in the Dakota, and John was gracious enough to fill it out and send it back. I discovered this fascinating tidbit of Beatle-ania (first reported on Lists of Note) from this Beatle blog here. The comment thread is eerily similar to one we've been having re: RAM and "How Do You Sleep?" I guess all Beatle roads do lead to John and Paul.

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Lennon on McCartney and Ono: interview recordings newly available

By Michael Gerber|2016-08-22T14:35:47-07:00March 5, 2013|John and Paul, john and yoko|

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 the project of releasing the interviews. One of the Lennon interviews was conducted by Smith the day "Imagine" went on sale. Smith evidently told Lennon that when he played "How Do You Sleep?" on his radio show, "a lot of [...]

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I wonder if we can get a Dullblog bulk discount?

By Michael Gerber|2013-09-04T12:35:36-07:00March 4, 2013|biography, books|

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 of his father's city bus? Brief but exciting web-teaser is here.

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A few fab cakes

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:57:15-07:00February 26, 2013|Beatle-inspired|

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.

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About Michael Gerber