Lennon on playing live
"Was that a jelly baby?" Why did Lennon play live so rarely after the Beatles' demise? Michael and Craig have made some interesting remarks about this question on the comments for the "Keep 'Em Out / Let 'Em In" post, which inspired me to remind myself of what Lennon himself said about the matter. This is a quote from a [...]
Two things
1. There's a whole blog devoted to Pattie Boyd: Swingin' Pattie. [Update Dec 2014: Sorry, there USED to be. It's defunct.] 2. From an interview with Fred Armisen by Damian Rogers (on the Believer tumblr): FA: I had to take all these tests with questions like, Do you see animals other people don’t seem to see? Do you feel a tight band [...]
Keep ‘Em Out vs. Let ‘Em In: An Angle on Lennon & McCartney
John and Paul face off, 1969 Some thoughts about an aspect of Lennon's and McCartney's solo music, prompted by some recent re-listening. -- Nancy After the break up, each Beatle pursued his own musical sensibilities pretty much unchecked. Here I want to look at a difference between Lennon’s and McCartney’s solo music that hasn’t gotten much critical attention: Lennon’s tendency [...]
The White Album, reviewed by Starostin
Black and white from White NANCY CARR • I can't resist highlighting another recent George Starostin review, this one of The Beatles. Every time I read his reviews, especially his reviews of the Beatles' work, I'm floored again by the fact that he's writing and publishing for free writing about music that's better than 90 percent of today's paid music [...]
The Beatles Writings of Joshua Glenn: “I’m Only Slacking”
In 2008, upon publication of The Idler’s Glossary, one of its authors, Joshua Glenn, engaged in an exchange of open letters with his co-author, Mark Kingwell—the topic of which, befitting the themes of the book, was the proper distinction between idling and slacking. In Glenn’s half of the exchange, our serial contributor illustrates the matter with apt and breezy reference to the [...]
Starostin on "Magical Mystery Tour"
I recently praised George Starostin's "Only Solitaire" review website on a comments thread, and wanted to draw the attention of Hey Dullblog's readers to his blog, which features reviews of new music and revisitings of music discussed on the original, now archived "Only Solitaire" site. The latest review is of "Magical Mystery Tour," and includes much to think on for any Beatles [...]
Did The Beatles Help Kill Rock and Roll?
Sure, they seem harmless enough. But were they leading rock off a cliff? Commenter Hologram Sam (nice handle, man) pointed us to a nice little screed by Gene Sculatti, where he compactly autopsies the music we love. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Sculatti was the main brain behind the fun pop culture compendia The Catalog of Cool and Too [...]
"All This And World War II"
"If you thought the movie version of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was bad, here’s something that will really curl the toes of your Beatle boots."All This And World War ll mashes up archival WW2 film footage with gung-ho Hollywood war epics and then tosses in a weird mix of rock stars covering Beatle tunes for its soundtrack. It’s a hit [...]
Re-slamming "Ram"
I thought critical opinion had largely come around to appreciating Paul and Linda McCartney’s Ram, 41 years after its release, but apparently not. It’s true that allmusic.com gives it five stars, having inched its rating up over the years, but a couple of reviews of the remastered album, due out later this month, are déjà vu all over again. The latest issue [...]