Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Vinyl remasters: To buy or not to buy?

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:58:01-07:00November 13, 2012|Uncategorized|

Three years after the CD remasters, we now have the vinyl remasters of the Beatles catalog. (Mono vinyl remasters to follow). The question is, are the remasters worth buying, if you already have Beatles vinyl in good condition?The decision is more complicated than it was for the CD remasters, because the Beatles CDs from the 1980s were fair to horrible-sounding. But the original Beatles vinyl versions still sound great if they've been well cared for.If you're trying to make up your mind, you'll be interested in the following Chicago Tribune piece, in which a panel compares the sound of old, new, and [...]

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Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour Live

By Michael Gerber|2013-08-13T18:46:41-07:00October 22, 2012|Sgt. Pepper|

Beatles, 1967. This past Friday in Chicago I saw Tributosaurus play all of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Magical Mystery Tour" live, and it was astonishingly great. Hearing the whole thing performed with ALL the instruments originally used—a string section, woodwinds, brass, and a host of Indian instruments—underlined just how rich and rewarding these albums are. The greatest double album the Beatles ever made, in my opinion. Recordings aren't going to do this justice, but here's a clip of "A Day in the Life" that's been posted: http://youtu.be/w4Nv7aIFEjQ Here are a few of my favorite moments from the [...]

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BBC Arena: "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited"

By Michael Gerber|2022-07-08T06:04:53-07:00October 18, 2012|1967, comedy, Magical Mystery Tour|

The Beatles relaxing during the filming of Magical Mystery Tour, 1967. Oh my god, I enjoyed this documentary on "Magical Mystery Tour." I think you will, too. As I watched the clips, I was reminded of both The Running Jumping Standing Still Film and The Bed-Sitting Room, among other things. MMT uses the same homely vernacular you see in everything from Spike Milligan to The Pythons, and twists it in a lot of the same ways. While it's old hat to compare MMT to Buñuel and the underground, it's maybe fairer (and more interesting) to place it astride the meandering line of British humor as [...]

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Beatleology

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-08T10:03:04-08:00October 15, 2012|books|

John with Paul ascendent in the House of George, thanks It had to happen . . . . a book-length Beatles-based personality quiz, with explications of each type. Fortunately, the authors, Adam and Roger Jacquette, write with enough wit and panache to make it fun and illuminating.Beatles fans won't be too surprised at the traits linked to each member (for example, Pauls can be overbearing, and are soppy when they're in love, duh), but there's more depth to each characterization than I expected in a book of this type. If you take the quiz, you'll end up with both a [...]

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A cover that tops the original

By Michael Gerber|2012-10-08T17:19:00-07:00October 8, 2012|Uncategorized|

I love this version of "My Brave Face," by SR-71, and think it's better than McCartney's original (which appeared on "Flowers in the Dirt.") SR-71's version is on "Listen to What the Man Said," a great 2001 compilation of McCartney covers.

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If you just hang around long enough, everything’s a masterpiece

By Michael Gerber|2012-09-26T17:57:00-07:00September 26, 2012|1967|

Yes, even "Magical Mystery Tour."Since I've long and loudly proclaimed my love for the MMT LP, I look forward to any and all hullabaloo regarding the re-release of the film. Here's a piece in The Guardian touting the upcoming Arena programme "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited." (When it is rebroadcast in America, it will of course be "a program.")The apparent angle of the documentary—that MMT was an affectionate send-up of rationing-era Britain—is something that I've always sensed in the film but never had the good sense to write down. This vein was being mined since the group reconvened to record "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny [...]

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Batman Joins In

By Michael Gerber|2012-09-12T23:03:00-07:00September 12, 2012|Paul McCartney|

From "This Isn't Happiness."

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It All Comes Down to the Thumb

By Michael Gerber|2012-09-12T16:29:00-07:00September 12, 2012|George, George Harrison|

An English mathematician claims he has cracked the mystery chord at the beginning of "A Hard Day's Night." The article's interesting—the prof used computer software similar to some I've seen used on a tape of the RFK assassination—but the short version is that George was hooking his thumb over the top of the neck, and playing the low E string at the first fret.Just like George not to tell, don't you agree?

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Manhattan Beatles

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:58:23-07:00September 7, 2012|bootlegs|

This Beatles image is from the wall opposite Bleecker Bob's record store at the corner of 3rd and MacDougal in Greenwich Village. I took it this past spring, just after buying a copy of the "Black Album" (comprised of Let it Be session bootlegs). Now Bleecker Bob's is, lamentably, about to close, another casualty of lagging interest in physical media and rising rents. Depending on the day and hour, I see this mural as either a reminder of good days now past or a testament to music's enduring presence. I do love the expression on the Beatles' faces (except for George, who looks a [...]

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Buckley on hating the Beatles

By Michael Gerber|2014-07-23T11:58:38-07:00August 22, 2012|1964, Beatles Criticism, Uncategorized, William F. Buckley|

NANCY CARR * William F. Buckley really hated the Beatles’ music. I’d known this in a general way, but hadn’t read his diatribes against them before encountering them in The Beatles Book, a 1968 anthology of critical writing about the band edited by Edward E. Davis. (Finding books like this makes me feel justified in spending what is probably way too much time in used bookstores.) Buckley’s 1964 National Review article on the Beatles was entitled “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, They Stink.” He piles on the adjectives in an effort to convey his absolute loathing of their sound: “Let me say it, as evidence [...]

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