Devin McKinney • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

What John Lennon Thinks of Donald Trump

By Devin McKinney|2016-12-03T07:52:05-08:00November 14, 2016|Uncategorized|

In the last few days, two people close to me have said they’ve found John’s “Gimme Some Truth” to be a tonic right now, even a cathartic. But this is the Lennon song that came to my mind, a day or two after the worst cataclysm to befall America since 9/11, and I’ve been listening to it several times a day. Coming from 1974, it’s a demo of the song from John’s Walls and Bridges album. As we know, it was written about ex-Beatles manager Allen Klein. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s a hot curse from the grave, a shot [...]

13

The Meaning of Fun: The Paul is Dead Rumor

By Devin McKinney|2016-02-03T09:24:03-08:00February 3, 2016|1969, alternate history, Beatle myth, books, Paul Is Dead (PID)|

In Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream in History, I wrote at length about the Paul is Dead (PID) rumor, attempting to weave it into a larger comprehension of the Beatles’ unprecedented, and exceedingly bizarre, effect on the private and public fantasies of the Sixties (and beyond). The rumor occurred at precisely the same time as the Manson Family murders, and my hunch for many years had been that their proximity beggared coincidence. That both were cults, both expressions—one benign, the other psychotic; one symbolic, the other brutally physical—of desires and fears accumulating at that instant in history; that those desires and [...]

10

BEATLES-STREEP-SHEA SHOCKER: IT’S NOT HER!!!!

By Devin McKinney|2015-08-14T05:33:15-07:00August 13, 2015|1966, alternate history, Beatle myth, Beatles on the Web, Meryl Streep|

DEVIN McKINNEY · Few things have been more spew-worthy on TV this last couple of weeks than the ads for Ricki and the Flash, with Meryl Streep as—ehh, who gives a shit. Read the Internet for the plot blurb. But the spectacle of this preeningest, phoniest of actors trying to look rocky and raunchy, let alone trying to sing that way, so offends my primordial brain that I’m driven against my higher controls to cringe, wince, twitch, and spit every time it comes on. I don’t want Meryl Streep herself to die, understand; but I would kill her fame in an instant, had [...]

4

John Lennon, “Hollywood Scumbag”?

By Devin McKinney|2015-07-27T08:52:04-07:00July 27, 2015|Beatles on the Web, John Lennon|

DEVIN McKINNEY • This turns up on one's Facebook feed today: "It's Not Just Cosby: Hollywood's Long List of Male Scumbags," a Daily Beast mow-down, inspired by the Bill Cosby revelations (or confirmations, more accurately) of several beloved or at least well-compensated male stars whose prevailing public profiles belie repellent acts committed out of the spotlight. Among the scumbags rounded up by poster Asawin Suebsaeng is one John Ono (ne Winston) Lennon. If you think it's wrong to link to this story here at a Beatle-celebration site, to feed its clicks and so forth, you might be right. But it's a Beatle-related [...]

8

BB King, 1925-2015

By Devin McKinney|2015-05-15T05:49:47-07:00May 15, 2015|Obituaries|

C. 1966: Dig the Beatle boots. “But the other part of me says, ‘Well, I wish I could just do it like B.B. King.’ If you put me with B.B., I’ll feel silly. … I really like B.B. King.” — John Lennon Riley B. King, former disc jockey and blues guitarist, dead at age 89. Few who enjoy this site have not enjoyed his music. Those who haven’t might take the time. I’m no scholar of his vast (as in vast) recorded catalog. But you might start, as I did, with Boss of the Blues, a sometime-in-the-Sixties collection of Fifties [...]

5

George & Ringo: The Brothers Fab

By Devin McKinney|2022-06-17T03:57:26-07:00May 12, 2015|George, George Harrison, Guest blogger, Ringo, Ringo Starr, Uncategorized|

By Michael Ray, Guest Dullblogger • Discuss the Beatles and much has been made regarding the brotherhood of its two principal players, John Lennon and Paul McCartney: a team – collaboratively and spiritually. Such a force is hard to deny. But there is another brotherhood that rarely gets mention, a true musical expression of love and respect between the remaining members of the Fab Four. After all, it was George Harrison who was the first to suggest that Richard Starkey (aka: Ringo Starr) join the group and replace the band’s original drummer, Pete Best. It was George who also took a black [...]

7

The Fab Five: My Top 5 Beatles Albums

By Devin McKinney|2015-04-26T19:10:32-07:00April 26, 2015|Abbey Road, AHDN, Guest blogger, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album|

By Jack Cornes, Guest Dullblogger • I should just add before I run through this list that the Beatles were genial from their origin to the day they disbanded. Every album they made is magical, sensual and transforming. I adore all of them. The strange thing with the Beatles is that they were and are so unique that they can’t be described; they exist within the heavens of the musical dynasty. These are my five favourite albums that make these four lads from Liverpool more than just musicians but something quite addictively beautiful. 5. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band I can [...]

13

Ringo honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

By Devin McKinney|2015-04-15T09:28:43-07:00April 15, 2015|awards, Beatles tributes, Ringo, Ringo Starr|

DEVIN McKINNEY • As the karmic wheel turns: balancing out my snarky but I think accurate estimation of The Magic Christian (see the panel to your right), comes today from Salon this informed, comprehensive, well-written, and generally right-on appreciation of Ringo Starr’s truest talent and most immeasurable contribution: his musicianly drumming. Authored by Patrick Berkery, a journeyman drummer who writes for Modern Drummer and has played with War on Drugs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and others, it comes upon the announcement that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will, during the April 18 induction ceremonies, bestow upon Ringo its Award [...]

4

Starrtime: Defining Moments from Ringo’s non-Beatle movies (2)

By Devin McKinney|2022-03-01T14:45:29-08:00April 13, 2015|1969, comedy, Monty Python, Movies, Ringo, Ringo movies, Ringo Starr|

If you thought Candy sucked rubber, point your innocent eyeballs in the direction of The Magic Christian, a film with similar components—Terry Southern novel, Ringo Starr one face among many in a ridiculously eclectic, overqualified cast—and find yourself trapped in the Fourth Dimension of Suck. All that I remember of the novel from a high-school reading is that Ringo’s character, a homeless bum and adopted son of a billionaire, isn’t in it. That the role was created for the film and left to languish as an afterthought manifests in the marginality of Ringo’s presence, though he is top-billed among the eminent or [...]

Comments Off

Cynthia Lennon: 1939-2015

By Devin McKinney|2015-12-30T11:19:58-08:00April 1, 2015|books, Cynthia Lennon, Obituaries, Wives and girlfriends|

The news today that Cynthia Lennon, ne Powell, is dead at the age of 75 has hit me, and I’m certain many others, with unexpected force. As her book A Twist of Lennon (one of the better Beatles-insider memoirs) made clear—without ever seeming bitter or vengeful about it—sweet Cynthia often got the shit end of the genius stick. She and John, I gather, shared most of their best times together early on, before fame; she was one of the things, perhaps the most important thing, that kept him, and so the band, together and moving forward. Cynthia (sitting, left) serenaded by [...]

24

About Devin McKinney