Lennon Archives - Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Lennon and McCartney On The Tonight Show, 1968

By Karen Hooper|2016-04-21T06:57:16-07:00April 20, 2016|1968, Apple, Lennon, McCartney|

Speaking of his appearance with Paul McCartney on the Tonight Show to announce Apple Corp., John Lennon said it “was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever been on.” And if you listen to the audio portion (the video portion is no longer available), it IS truly cringe-worthy. Sitting with a slightly inebriated Tallulah Bankhead and a polite but clueless Joe Garagiola (who was subbing for Johnny Carson), John and Paul endured 22 minutes of embarrassingly vacuous questions (“Will you ever be able to top Sgt. Pepper?”, asked Garagiola) which made ME want to put a fork in my ear. An interesting backstory [...]

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Cries and Whispers, Crashes and Flutters: 10 Favorite Beatles Musical Micro-Moments

By Devin McKinney|2016-12-03T07:44:13-08:00November 27, 2013|1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, John Lennon, Lennon, McCartney, Paul McCartney, Ringo, Ringo Starr|

Recording "Real Love," 1994:Gut genius at work. DEVIN McKINNEY • We all know you can take the Beatles to the outer limit and upper extremity of significance—Best thing in universal history—and then narrow that unit to its subordinate but still-impressive absolutes: Best miracle of the 20th century; best socio-cultural force of the 1960s; Best group of the “rock era.” Having accepted all of that, you can, and we all have, then go superlative in descending levels of specificity: Best album; best song; best vocal performance—John; best vocal performance—Paul; best bass playing; best guitar solo; best everything else. But have we [...]

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Fool’s Goldman: Reliving “The Lives of John Lennon”

By Devin McKinney|2013-08-13T22:41:29-07:00March 19, 2013|biography, books, John Lennon, Lennon|

DEVIN McKINNEY • Warning—there’s a lot of rant here, most of it to do with Albert Goldman but some of it just my articulated flailings about the nature of biography and criticism, writers and readers. But Michael asked, I answered, this is our blog, and we make the rules. So strap on your poncho and feel free to skip around. Reading the “Drugs and Differences” comments, I took special note when the ghost of Albert Goldman reared its shiny dome. He’s so easy to despise and so difficult to defend on any level, but I’m always curious about the case to be [...]

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Reminder: Mike’s book is FREE today!

By Michael Gerber|2010-09-30T19:00:00-07:00September 30, 2010|books, Lennon|

Hey folks! I'm happy to say that hundreds of you have taken advantage of my catastrophically bad business sense, and downloaded Life After Death for Beginners. Even better, I'm already getting emails from people telling me how much they're enjoying it. THIS IS AWESOME(no punctuation, for extra breathlessness)Seriously: Life After Death for Beginners would not have turned out as nicely as it did without all the things I've learned from the posters and commenters here at Dullblog. It is such a pleasure to be able to say thanks in this way. Please take me up on it!And now, off to see "Nowhere [...]

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More on the breakup…

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-31T15:01:22-08:00April 24, 2010|Brian Epstein, Lennon|

So there, John. A great comment from Nancy on the breakup of the Beatles, in the comment thread... Here's another thought, prompted by your post and the responses to it: both John and Paul reacted to Brian Epstein's death in ways predicted by their reactions to their respective mothers' deaths. John learned from his whole childhood that he couldn't really trust anyone (from his p.o.v., both his parents abandoned him), and that if you loved someone, he or she would vanish or change beyond recognition (his Uncle George, his mother, Stu Sutcliffe, and from his perspective, Cynthia). Paul learned from his [...]

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Pizza, Pooh & Magpie

By Devin McKinney|2014-07-23T16:53:05-07:00March 17, 2009|1965, Beatles tributes, Lennon|

This just begs for a funny caption. DEVIN McKINNEY • The following was spotted recently in the liner notes of Peter, Paul & Mary's LP See What Tomorrow Brings, released December 1965, simultaneous with Rubber Soul. The notes spend needless time defending PP&M for not being "hip" like Dylan, or "electric" like the Beatles; and then assuring us it doesn't matter 'cause they do their own thing anyway. Then you get to this: Their message is the same as that of any artist through the centuries, a sermon of truth and beauty in the context of their times. And the [...]

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What Sexy Sadie did

By Michael Gerber|2014-12-22T11:21:57-08:00February 6, 2008|1967, 1968, Lennon|

"Hey guys, could one of you introduce me to Mia Farrow's sister?" MIKE GERBER • "Which one of you geniuses," Ed emailed this morning, "is on the Maharishi beat?" As the least-employed member of our merry band, I guess that's me (Mike). I admit to having a real fondness for The Giggling One, and not just because I spent yesterday afternoon at a Mindfulness Meditation workshop at my local public library. (Me and 99 senior citizens.) As cartoonish as his public persona could be, it's undeniable that the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi helped change Western culture, largely for the better. And it's [...]

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Video: You Can’t Do That

By Michael Gerber|2022-07-24T12:12:25-07:00January 2, 2008|1964, AHDN, Lennon|

Apparently this performance--of "You Can't Do That," one of my all-time favorite Beatles tunes--was deleted from A Hard Day's Night. You can understand why; it's Lennon at his most creepily aggressive (bested only by "Run For Your Life" off Rubber Soul). Am I forgetting any others? https://vimeo.com/540777186

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