An English mathematician claims he has cracked the mystery chord at the beginning of "A Hard Day's Night." The article's interesting—the prof used computer software similar to some I've seen used on a tape of the RFK assassination—but the short version is that George was hooking his thumb over the top of the neck, and playing the low E string at the first fret.Just like George not to tell, don't you agree?
The fourth in our series of guest appearances by Beatles scholar-investigator Joshua Glenn could be subtitled “or, Ringo Observed in his Natural Habitat.” Following on from ideas—or suspicions—about the secret lives behind familiar Beatles-associated faces first elaborated in “Big Mal Lives!,” Glenn uncovers the identity and unravels the agenda of the flamingo-like gentleman seen dancing sociably with, or at least in proximity to, Ringo in the nightclub scene of A Hard Day’s Night. Who but Glenn would have suspected this brief, rather happy scene was a window on the dark doings of anthropologists and punk rockers—the two most wantonly antisocial groups of [...]
Not only did we not do the seemingly obligatory "Paul is 70" post, we are going to share with you the following much less well-noted events: "Rishikesh George" made of felt (via Dangerous Minds)-- Rishikesh George by Felt Mistress --as well as the sad news of Victor Spinetti's death. I always feel a slight resentment towards the people of my childhood imagination when they die, but I am trying not to hold it against him. He was 82. Lord knows how old that makes me. Best not to think about it. I met Vic once (that's what people were calling [...]
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 Beatles, and even draws a productive contrast with the Rolling Stones (a band whose existence, for whatever reason, has seldom been acknowledged by anyone at Hey Dullblog). Lest it be felt that this discussion is of limited relevance, consider that [...]
Several nowhere boys ED PARK • Just saw this on Salon—a very good review of the Scorsese documentary on George and of "Nowhere Boy." I love that the author, Erik Nelson, describes himself as "a card-carrying Beatlemaniac, with a mail-order degree in advanced Moptopology." This is my favorite paragraph: "A much scruffier and ultimately more revealing insight into the Beatles Creation Myth comes from the 2009 "Nowhere Boy." This movie is set entirely in those moments when a strange kind of human alchemy transpired, in the grimy laboratory of Liverpool. No attempt is made to explain how the magic happened, but the viewer gets [...]
Randy Bachman unlocks the secret of that most enticing of opening chords... Randy reveals how he was invited into Abbey Road Studioes by Giles Martin, son of the famous Beatles producer George Martin. Martin told Bachman he had all the Beatles source tapes saved onto a computer running Pro Tools. The master of the tapes then asked, "What do you want to hear?" Thankfully, Bachman asked himself one of the most famous mysteries in all of the Beatles songwriting history: What the hell did they all play on the opening chord in "A Hard Days Night?" (Via Dylan Hicks on FB) http://youtu.be/gwfH9oAiPH0
I must confess, I did not own the album A Hard Day's Night until fairly recently. So when I finally did get a copy, I discovered with pleasure that there were still a few new-to-me Beatles songs out there, namely "Any Time at All" and "When I Get Home" (which didn't make it into the movie). The latter pops up on my iPod Shuffle now and then, and every time I hear it, this lyric makes me snort: When I get home tonightI'm gonna hold her tightI'm gonna love her till the cows come home What I love about these lines is [...]
I owe commenter Tony (aka Pismotality) a pint, a kidney or something even more important for bringing this into my life. From the British sketch show "Harry and Paul": http://youtu.be/SgnaAiAi1Pk I particularly enjoyed the banter on the bus--somewhere Alun Owen is smiling. And the bit with Lennon and the Germans..."Harry and Paul" is now more popular than Christ, at least in this household. Dullblog people, you are the greatest!
http://youtu.be/6vAMgbGEDTY (Via.)
