To mark the 27th anniversary of the death of John Lennon, Yoko has the following request: “On December 8th, 11.15pm (your local time) please remember John by taking a moment of quiet reflection.”
How many years?
Tag Archives: Beatles
Across the Universe Tumbles Blindly
Director Julie Taymor’s latest film, Across the Universe, chronicles the 1960s through the use of Beatles songs, spanning their entire catalogue. Considering Taymor’s knack for creating incredible visual spectacles (Frida), as well as the continued relevance of the music of the Beatles, this might be a great idea.
We follow the story of Jude (Jim Sturgess), a young artist from Liverpool in search of his father, and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), a young suburbanite in search of what she believes in. They meet through her brother, Maxwell, a college dropout, and fall in love. Along the way they run into Sadie, a rock singer with a big, raspy voice, JoJo, an electric guitar player, and Prudence, a girl who keeps running from her problems.
Wu-Tang Clan – The Heart Gently Weeps
MP3: Wu-Tang Clan – “The Heart Gently Weeps” featuring Dhani Harrison, Erykah Badu and John Frusciante, from 8 Diagrams. Courtesy of loud.com.
The song interpolates “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by the Beatles. The Wu initially claimed it was the first cleared Beatles sample, which it’s not. George’s son gave it the thumbs up and played “a bit of guitar” on it: “[The RZA] asked me to see if he could use the song, which is owned by us [the Harrison Estate], and we said yes. It’s not the original master — they’ve never been cleared — but the song is used compositionally.”
I’m going off to listen to “The Sounds of Science” now.
Fanatical Maniacs, Yesterday and Today
The Beatles fascinate me. Sure, I love their music, and it would be a sin to not appreciate their effect on popular music. But I’d be lying if I said they were one of my favorite bands. After spending all of my childhood and teenage years listening to and discussing them, I’m kind of burnt out on Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s. What I really love about the Beatles is where they stand in the history of pop culture, not pop music.
A Hard Day’s Night is one of my all time favorite movies. Every time I watch it, my mind is completely boggled by one factor: the girls. Screaming girls are one part of pop culture that has never made sense to me. True, I spent my entire teenage years going to concerts, standing in the front row, and soaking up every bit of contact I could with my favorite musicians, feeling like I was touching greatness. I’ll admit that I sobbed like a baby when Tina Turner hit the stage at the United Center on her final world tour. Yet all of this idolatry and focus on pop stars has never been something I could understand—it was always just something I felt.
The Beatles Help! Coming to DVD (again)
According to Billboard, The Beatles’ Help! will be released in a double-DVD edition on October 30, digitally restored with a new 5.1 audio soundtrack. The second disc will contain “a 30-minute documentary about the making of the movie, a missing scene, a featurette on the restoration process, interviews with cast and crew, three theatrical trailers and vintage radio advertisements.”
There will also be a boxed set that features “a reproduction of director Richard Lester’s original script and a 60-page book with rare photos and production notes.”
This will be the third time Help! has been released on DVD, but it’s been off the market since 2000 “due to rights issues.” I wonder what those issues are. And more importantly, when the fuck are they going to release Let It Be? Seriously, EMI, get your shit together regarding the Beatles.
Pop Songs Rewritten as Limericks
Zoilus: Famous Songs Rewritten as Limericks
Norwegian Wood
Once J.L. met a girl with good floors,
Upon which they proceeded to score.
She had work (so she’s legal,
Which was rare for a Beatle),
But he still treated her like a whore.
Many more good ones in the comments. Contribute your own (if you’re clever enough).
Via percolator.
Musicians Trash Classic Albums
With the fortieth anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper, ’tis the season to knock some idols off their pedestals. The Guardian asked a bunch of musicians to “nominate the supposedly great records they’d gladly never hear again,” and they came up with some fantastic quotes.
These days, well, it’s my contention that it represents the death of the Beatles as a rock’n’roll band and the birth of them as music hall, which is hardly a victory. The main problem with Sgt Pepper is Sir Paul’s maudlin obsession with his own self-importance and Dickensian misery. (Paul McCartney is the dark one in the Beatles, not John Lennon, because he writes such depressing, scary music.) It’s like a Sunday before school that goes on forever. It’s too dark and twisted for anyone with any light in their life. Then again, when he tries to be upbeat, it rings false – like having a clown in the room.
–Billy Childish on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
In America when you’re growing up, you’re subjected to the Doors as soon as you start going to parties and smoking weed. People think of Jim Morrison as a brilliant rock’n’roll poet, but to me it’s unlistenable. The music meanders, and Morrison was more like a drunk asshole than an intelligent poet.
— The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn on LA Woman
More after the jump…
UK Stereo White Album #0000006 For Sale
Ebay has a listing for an extremely low numbered original White Album. The original pressings of the album were individually numbered and the lowest numbers were held by the Beatles and their closest friends. This #6 was reportedly owned by John Lennon’s driver and bodyguard, Les Anthony.
Bidding as of late Friday night is nearing $13,000 but shipping and handling is only $30! What a steal!
Pete and Carl Recording Together
Ex-Libertines bandmates Pete Doherty and Carl Barat are reportedly recording a version of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” for a BBC2 special. According to the NME, the radio station has gathered a whole host of artists to record the album, which was relased 40 years ago this month.
Tasty.
Previously: A ton of shit. We love The Libertines.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: 40 Years Later
It was forty years ago today that The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and changed the face of popular music. In the time since then, the album has faced a tremendous amount of examination and its place in history has come under increased scrutiny and debate.
There are a growing number of music fans and critics that challenge Sgt. Pepper’s rank as not only the definitive statement of the Beatles, but the notion that the album is ground zero for conceptual pop/rock music; the building block of anything that strives to be more important than perhaps the original intent of the genre allowed it to be.
I wholeheartedly agree that there are indeed better albums to be found among The Beatles’ catalog, but I am not ready to distance myself from the fact that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band remains not only as the first album new fab four converts should acquire after discovering them, but it’s also…and still…the greatest rock and roll album of all time.
Continue reading Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: 40 Years Later