A week from today, Paul McCartney’s new album, Kisses on the Bottom, comes out. When it was first announced a few months ago, it was described as an album of standards, the songs that McCartney grew up with in the 1950s that inspired him and John Lennon as they were forming the Quarry Men andContinue reading “On Paul McCartney’s Album of Standards”
Category Archives: Beatles
On Remembering John Lennon
Thirty-one years ago today, John Lennon was gunned down outside his apartment building in Manhattan. He was two months past his fortieth birthday. I’ve had a tradition, going back more than a decade, of listening to Lennon hardcore on the anniversary of his death. Today, I generally didn’t. I put on a CD at workContinue reading “On Remembering John Lennon”
On George Harrison, Ten Years Gone
Ten years ago today, George Harrison died of cancer. He was fifty-eight. I’m not sure that I can improve upon what I wrote in an e-mail to a friend at the time: My favorite Beatle depends as much upon what day of the week it is as it does upon my mood for that day.Continue reading “On George Harrison, Ten Years Gone”
On MOJO’s Harrison Covered CD
A few days ago I stopped at Barnes & Noble on my way home from work. Though it was a little early in the month, I wanted to see if they had the latest issue of MOJO with its cover story on George Harrison and the cover-mounted CD Harrison Covered. To my surprise, there wasContinue reading “On MOJO’s Harrison Covered CD”
On George Harrison and “The Pirate Song”
It’s another International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and while I normally post a bootleg video of George Harrison’s performance of “The Pirate Song” on Eric Idle’s Rutland Weekend Television, this morning I found something far more interesting. A ukulele cover of “The Pirate Song”! Yes, the things that amuse me… This cover is byContinue reading “On George Harrison and “The Pirate Song””
On Favorite Beatles Songs
This weekend at Shore Leave, on Saturday evening at 5 o’clock, I’ll be moderating a panel on the Beatles. It’s an odd topic for a panel for science-fiction convention, and I admit I put it down on my list of suggested topics as a kind of a lark, and I still have no idea whatContinue reading “On Favorite Beatles Songs”
On Ukulele Playlists
Several months ago I discovered The Beatles Complete on Ukulele, a weekly podcast of ukulele Beatles covers. I added the feed to iTunes, and within an hour I had all the songs that had been released to date. Since then, I’ve stayed on top of downloading the podcast, though I’ve recently had to fix aContinue reading “On Ukulele Playlists”
On DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album
Not long after I bought my Beetle, at the tail end of 2004, I decided I needed an awesome album for the Beetle’s stereo. I needed the Grey Album. The Grey Album was the infamous mash of Jay-Z’s The Black Album and The Beatles’ The Beatles (which everyone refers to as “The White Album,” becauseContinue reading “On DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album”
On Beatles Archeology
Last summer, I read Michael Moorcock’s Doctor Who novel, The Coming of the Terraphiles. Set about 50,000 years in our future, the novel concerns itself with the Doctor and Amy’s adventures with a group of Earth re-enactors, the Terraphiles. They think they know what Earth, circa 1900, was like, but what they have to goContinue reading “On Beatles Archeology”
On The Beatles’ The Lord of the Rings
In 1963, when the Beatles agreed to make A Hard Day’s Night, the film, they signed a three-picture deal with United Artists. In 1964, they made A Hard Day’s Night. In 1965, Help! By and large, though, they didn’t like making films. Too much work. And so, when the idea was floated of an animatedContinue reading “On The Beatles’ The Lord of the Rings”