"The mopheads or whatever"

By |2013-08-05T04:35:07-07:00January 21, 2013|1966, John Lennon, Paul McCartney|

Yoko Ono and an apple, 1966. Browsing in a used bookstore last night, I came across this quote in Rolling Stone Raves: What Your Rock & Roll Favorites Favor (1999): Yoko Ono: "No, I didn't know any of [the Beatles' music when I met John Lennon.] I had heard about the band, the mopheads or whatever. I knew that they were making a big impact on people, like a social phenomenon. I just never got around to listening to their music." [1992] My first reaction was "Wow." I mean, I knew Yoko was no Beatles fan when she met Lennon, [...]

"I’m 15 and I feel like 80"

By |2020-02-04T22:31:41-08:00January 14, 2013|1964|

Well, sister, I'm 43 and feel like 15. Or 180. It changes from moment to moment. Spending time with the folks sure makes me feel young. They're coming of age at this point, and require personal care. I was a bit worried at first because they didn't want to move out of the house, but after some research I learned about Home Care Assistance Raleigh. They're right nearby at Home Care Assistance 9050 W Olympic Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 (310) 857-4740 so I set up a meeting and they seemed nice and professional enough. They've been working with my parents for [...]

Yet more banging on about Magical Mystery Tour

By |2015-09-01T10:53:04-07:00December 18, 2012|1967, Magical Mystery Tour|

Magical Mystery Tour pie chart, 1967 This blog seemed to go through a phase where every second post was about how awesome Ram was/is. Go back and check the stream; it was amazing. Went on for months. And I support that, not just because Ram is awesome, but because this ol' world of ours is big enough to have one place where Ram-love flows freely, without fear. In that same spirit of being just bleeeaaagggrhhh…without in any way demeaning the White Album!—I present the following. This evening while trying to avoid doing my wife's Bialetti pot, I read this Slate review of [...]

Ravi works George out

By |2013-08-09T00:15:46-07:00December 16, 2012|1968, George, Obituaries|

Reader Rupa S. pointed me to this great clip of George Harrison and Ravi Shankar from 1968 (before George decided to stick to guitar). RIP, Ravi Shankar. Glad to be alive at the same time you were. http://youtu.be/t79aI-I6ucA

Several Sides of Searchin’

By |2012-12-06T01:27:00-08:00December 6, 2012|1962|

Alvin Robinson. I'm going through a bit of a Northern Soul period (c'mon, I'm always going through one of those), and found a nice version of the song "Searchin'," performed by Alvin Robinson in 1961.But of course readers of this blog might remember it from the guys' ill-fated Decca auditions…...which is much closer to the Coasters' original.

Did Yellow Submarine beget The Simpsons?

By |2016-02-28T13:35:31-08:00December 4, 2012|1966, 1967, 1968, Obituaries|

Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein argues so in this (hotly debated) article for The Guardian. Without Yellow Submarine there would never have beenThe Simpsons, no Futurama, no South Park, no Toy Story, no Shrek. No animated anything that enables us to laugh at ourselves while being highly entertained. Naturally, I want to believe him. In my opinion, The Beatles (and -related) are that clear, burbling spring from which all good things flow. Of course the comments are alive with internet types, people who obsessively leapfrog each other in truth-owning appeals to obscure authority, who defiantly declare that Yellow Sub was/is shite and the REAL breakthroughs were the [...]

BBC Arena: "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited"

By |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 [...]

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

By |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 [...]

I’ve got a love-uh-ly bunch of coconuts

By |2014-07-23T11:58:33-07:00August 22, 2012|1967|

DEVIN McKINNEY  •  The news comes through this morning that Magical Mystery Tour is to be released in remastered form on DVD and BluRay on October 9 in North America, a day earlier everywhere else. The remaster is more than welcome, with the advertised extras making the Deluxe Edition compulsory for the committed. (I just ordered mine.) There's been talk here of the music, but I don't remember any real discussion of the movie. What do people think of it? Anyone who hasn't seen it? I last saw it several years ago, having purchased a legit VHS edition briefly put out by [...]

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