What John Lennon Thinks of Donald Trump
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 [...]
McCartney Opens Sacramento Stadium with a Bang
My view from the cheap(ish) seats. Paul McCartney opened Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center on October 4 the same way he closed down Candlestick Park two years ago – with a nonstop volley of songs. The opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night” sounded, and tens of thousands of fans started screaming. The overall mood, though decidedly more decorous than the heyday [...]
American Bystander #3 is available
If George were alive, he'd totally dig this magazine. I try to keep my non-Beatles activities separate from this blog, for obvious reasons. And being from the Midwest, I have a positive horror of self-promotion. (This has been exactly as helpful to my career as you might expect.) But several readers have asked me to tell everybody about my dayjob, [...]
Eight Days A Week
A room and a room and a car and a room: At least this room has wheels. Well, I finally went to see the much-anticipated Eight Days A Week last night at 10:00 in the p.m. Why so late? Because I've been working eight days, etc etc. I know the story, backwards and forwards, and so do you. So going [...]
Eight Days A Week: 5 Great Things About Ron Howard’s Documentary
Getting ready to perform, during the suit-and-tie era. Ron Howard's Eight Days A Week documentary of the Beatles' touring years is excellent. Not perfect, not a definitive look at the totality of the Beatles' career, but very good at doing what it sets out to do. Howard does shy away from the unseemly elements of the Beatles' life on the [...]
Beatles mystery: “She’s Leaving Home”
William Shaw's She's Leaving Home is a Beatles-linked police procedural mystery. It's also a deep dive into the turmoil of late-60's London. And an examination of two detectives struggling with their identities and social roles. If that makes the book sound overstuffed, it's because it is. But overall it's an enjoyable read for Beatles or mystery fans who are prepared to skim a bit. Beatles novels are as [...]
Did Monoculture Make The Beatles?
December 21, 1967: John, Paul and Ringo at the party celebrating the BBC's transmission of "Magical Mystery Tour." This morning, as I was shaving -- a marvelously quick operation now that I have a beard -- "Breakfast With the Beatles" played a blast-from-the-past radio ad touting the then-new LPs Magical Mystery Tour and Wild Honey. (So we can date the [...]
Death and the Beatles Fan
I hope this fan is still with us. Stephen Kennedy's "Death and the Beatles Fan" has been called a Beatles-themed parody of The Seventh Seal... which makes it catnip for yours truly. (Seventh Seal is my mother's favorite movie, which I guess explains all my therapists.) Anyway, "Death and the Beatles Fan" was broadcast on Ireland's RTE Radio One last [...]
McCartney shakes it in St Louis
Waiting to sit in the stands of the sports arena. Paul McCartney proved he could still play, sing, and shake it at his show in St Louis last Saturday night. Looking loose and sounding in fine voice, McCartney was clearly having a capital time with the capacity crowd at Busch Stadium. And–almost unbelievably, given the high winds, lightning, and sheets [...]