All You Need Is Love: Martin’s Greatest Accomplishment?
George Martin, rocking out, 1967 David Yearsley over at Counterpunch has a wonderful appreciation of George Martin's work on the Summer of Love anthem "All You Need Is Love." Unfortunately Apple has taken down the linked video -- maybe they think your momentary frustration will spur a quick purchase of "1+"? Instead of making you think, "Jerks." Yearsley writes, It [...]
Biography vs History: Expectations and Assumptions about Beatle Narratives
Over at the Tumblr fandom categories post, an interesting and lively discussion is taking place about Beatle biographies, and our expectations of and assumptions about authorial intent and accuracy. I thought the topic warranted a closer look. Are journalists and biographers simply writers "who are paid to tell a story that sells", as Mike Gerber contends, or should they be held to [...]
Why not add something to a comment?
Folks, many of you have asked for the ability to add images, video, and other files to your comments, so I have shelled out the princely sum of $25 and bought an addon that does that very thing. I would love it if our comments regularly contained supporting materials -- this would make them an even more useful reflection of the aggregate [...]
The Beatles and the Boomers: The Childhood They Gave Us
I really don’t remember when I first saw the Beatles. I have no memory of a ‘before’ and ‘after.' I think I must have issued from the womb with them firmly attached, like a birthmark. I’m a first-generation Beatles’ fan, born in 1956, which makes me a younger cohort of the boomer generation. According to Sociologist and Beatle Expert Candy Leonard, [...]
George Martin obituary roundup
Beatles record producer George Martin has died at the age of 90. (And I didn't even know he was sick!) Below is a link to the obituary in The Guardian; we'll add other notable ones as they appear--please suggest additions in the comments. The Guardian. SPIN. Vulture. The New York Times. And yet another link to the Beatles story is lost -- [...]
Yellow Submarine Liner Notes
Anybody know why John is giving that symbol? Look, the Beatles et al. can't blame us for being obsessed. Not when so much of the stuff generated by them was so wonderfully, almost obstinately eccentric. Especially after Sgt. Pepper, with its cover of eminences, to dig into the Beatles was to encounter a glorious ragbag of art and history, comedy [...]
Tumblr Fandom Categories and Beatle Books
By Gibson DelGiudice, guest Dullblogger As a 21st century Beatles fan (born in 1990, and so coming of age during the new millennium), it seems only natural that I probably have a different perspective than most Beatles fans on the literature that documents the group's rise to fame and the careers of its members. I’d like to share a Tumblr-influenced way of [...]
With The Beatles: Alistair Taylor
Alistair Taylor, 1967 In 1960, Alistair Taylor was a newly married 25-year-old office clerk when he applied for a sales job at NEMS. He had never met Brian Epstein before, but the two men hit it off immediately. The sales job morphed into an offer to be Epstein’s personal assistant, and Taylor jumped at the chance. If you’re looking [...]
McCartney on Lennon as his hero
Over on the "Paul's Essential Elements" thread, in response to an excellent post by Chris Dingman, we've been having a fascinating conversation about what both Lennon and McCartney brought to their artistic partnership. We're also having a conversation about it over on Mike's post, "John Lennon: Man of the Decade," because that's how we roll on Dullblog. In writing a comment on [...]