Recently I’ve seen the traffic spike on some of my Beatles writings, specifically on alt-history Beatles, so I’m going to assemble a guide to things I written on the subject over the years. Post-Abbey Road Albums It’s an interesting game to imagine what the Beatles might’ve done had they soldiered on into 1970. There’s interestingContinue reading “Alternate Beatles”
Category Archives: Music
A New(ish) Beatle-esque Christmas Album
Among the podcasts I listen to regularly, one I particularly enjoy is Things We Said Today, a weekly podcast of Beatles discussion with Ken Michaels, Steve Marinucci, Al Sussman, and Allan Kozinn. A year ago, the podcast changed its focus from Beatles news to a weekly theme, and this week’s episode dicussed the Beatles’ ChristmasContinue reading “A New(ish) Beatle-esque Christmas Album”
An Irish Outing in Annapolis
I feel that I’ve been living in a bubble the last month, but work, deadlines, and work deadlines will do that to a person. Yesterday was an escape from that bubble — the fifth annual Annapolis Irish Festival was held at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds. I first went in 2012, then again last year,Continue reading “An Irish Outing in Annapolis”
Shamrock Fest 2015
On Saturday I was in Washington, DC for Shamrock Fest, “America’s Largest St. Paddy’s Day Celebration.” A celtic music festival held at RFK Stadium in Washington DC annually right around St. Patrick’s Day, Shamrock Fest is something I’ve attended annually for the last five years (see write-ups on 2011, 2012, and 2013), and it’s somethingContinue reading “Shamrock Fest 2015”
The 2014 Annapolis Irish Festival
This weekend was the Annapolis Irish Festival, a two-day event — Friday and Saturday — of Irish and Celtic music, vendors, and events at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds in Crownsville, Maryland. I went two years ago and had a generally nice time. It was like Shamrock Fest with a similar group of bands, butContinue reading “The 2014 Annapolis Irish Festival”
Artistically Beatles
It’s safe to say that I have more Beatles cover albums in my collection than official Beatles albums. (I have to make that distinction, as I have a nice sized collection of bootleg albums.) And over the years, I’ve bought some absolute junk. I have no idea when I picked up Vincent DiCola’s Artistically Beatles. Continue reading “Artistically Beatles”
A Single-Disc White Album
Let’s talk about the Beatles’ White Album. Recording in 1968, after the Beatles went to India to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the White Album, thirty tracks long, is famously bloated. The band came back from India with a wealth of material and the intention to record it all. Then the recordingContinue reading “A Single-Disc White Album”
Untold Tales of the Beatles in Hamburg
Later this month, Tune In, the first volume of Mark Lewisohn’s three volume biography of the Beatles, The Beatles: All These Years, comes out. I’ve been awaiting this book for five or six years. Lewisohn, the writer behind The Beatles Recording Sessions and The Complete Beatles Chronicle, the the world’s foremost expert on the Beatles,Continue reading “Untold Tales of the Beatles in Hamburg”
On Shamrock Fest 2013
To get to Shamrock Fest, I had to navigate a phalanx of Bible-thumpers. Shamrock Fest is an Irish and Celtic music festival held annually at RFK Stadium, and the organizers recommend that people take the DC Metro to reach the music festival. You take the Blue or Orange line, disembark at the Stadium-Armory stop, climbContinue reading “On Shamrock Fest 2013”
On Carbon Leaf’s Free Sampler
It’s been too long since Carbon Leaf’s last album. How do you count their last album? Their last release was 2011’s Live, Acoustic, and In Cinemascope!, which, as you can tell from the title, is an acoustic live album. How the West Was One and Christmas Child, both 2010, were longer than EPs but shorterContinue reading “On Carbon Leaf’s Free Sampler”