Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Prince SHREDS While My Guitar Gently Weeps

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-21T22:35:00-07:00April 21, 2016|Covers|

So much to say about Prince, probably the closest thing my generation had to The Beatles, but today is the last day of our Kickstarter for issue #2 of The American Bystander -- so it will have to wait a bit. While you're waiting, however, here is a 2004 version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with an absolutely cataclysmic guitar solo by Prince. (And I don't like solos, as a rule.) We've posted it before, but today of all days, it must be heard. https://youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y I'm typing this quickly, in between updates to the Kickstarter, but the more I think, the [...]

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Hey Jude by Tiny Tim and the Brave Combo

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-14T09:44:31-07:00April 13, 2016|Covers|

UPDATE: Such is the awesome power of Dullblog, that the video of Hey Jude by Tiny Tim has been taken down less than 12 hours after this post. In its place, I offer Tim's version of "Girl," which should give you a flavor. Anybody who finds a link to "Hey Jude," lemme know and I'll replace it. https://youtu.be/eL0Xq03eZWw Just to be absolutely clear, I love that we live in a world where Tiny Tim existed; if he hadn't existed, I would've longed to invent him. And I'm glad there are people who like his work. But... Brave" is the word I'd apply [...]

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Stop And Smell The Daisies

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-10T23:10:08-07:00April 10, 2016|1967|

Anybody know where and when this was taken? Bangor, 1967? Stop and smell the daisies

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Gotta Get This Outta My Life

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-09T11:04:45-07:00April 9, 2016|Covers|

Nineteen sixty-eight has been called the year America came apart, and I personally think this Joe Pesci Beatles cover might have been the reason. Listen at your own risk. https://youtu.be/JfCPawM7kIY

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The American Bystander #2

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-08T12:26:47-07:00April 8, 2016|comedy|

I look high, I look low... Where is Mike?" I'm sure many of you are not asking. But others may be concerned. "Where am I supposed to get my daily quota of digs at the White Album? Who can I turn to for frank, unashamed love for the Fabs' psychedelic period? Not to mention egregious and off-topic references to Peter Cook and Peter Sellers? Some bad person is trying to make me listen to Let It Be, and I need reasons not to! Help!" It's like this, Beatle peedles: After a near-decade of under- and straight up un-employment, my life [...]

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Ray Cathode is George Martin and Maddalena Fagandini

By Michael Gerber|2016-04-01T17:34:32-07:00April 1, 2016|George Martin|

Spotted something neat on the Twitter feed of musician Michael Penn today: this oh-so-1962 single, recorded by a post-Goons pre-Beatles George Martin and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Maddalena Fagandini. Can someone please tell me what a "time interval" is? Apparently "Time Waltz" was a reworked time interval. https://youtu.be/mhVYEgMrxOg In addition to his humble roots, George Martin's buttoned-up demeanor and BBC diction hid just how widely his mind did range. The Fabs were beyond lucky to pair up with him. It is the intellectual range of the Beatles which makes them so endurably fascinating to me. (And maybe to you, as well.)

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Commenting Standards on Hey Dullblog

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-24T10:31:33-07:00March 24, 2016|Housekeeping|

Your commanding officer, Mr. Paul McCartney They all laughed when we stepped up to the mic, but when we began to sing... Hey Dullblog is the most popular Beatles fan site on the web, with about a thousand visitors a day. This means that we're getting lots of new commenters, which we love. But now's a good time to remind everybody that Dullblog's a bit different than the rest of the internet: comments here are expected to be constructive, substantive and civil. Constructive meaning part of a good faith attempt on our all parts to learn more, and understand better, [...]

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Paul Is Dead Open Thread

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-24T10:17:55-07:00March 24, 2016|Paul Is Dead (PID)|

Worst Hanukkah EVER In case you hadn't noticed, here at Dullblog, we live to serve. One of the topics that seems to be of persistent interest — particularly to Beatle fans under 40 — is the theory that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. (My personal theory is that Paul committed suicide so he wouldn't have to go through the Get Back/Let It Be sessions.) While there are lots of places to discuss PID on the internet, I'm creating this open thread so that people who want to dig into all the ins-and-outs of this [...]

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George Martin Tribute on Twenty-First Century Radio

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-21T12:21:08-07:00March 21, 2016|Interviews|

"We have a ghost in our house in the country...he smokes a pipe." Commenter Linda sent me some interesting links to last night's two-hour George Martin tribute on Twenty-First Century Radio, hosted by Dr. Bob Hieronimus. Baltimore-based radio host and artist Hieronimus seems to be somewhat Art Bell-ish, but with a definite Beatles bent (he's written a whole book on Yellow Submarine). Hieronymus interviewed Martin six times between 1995 and 2007. Says Linda, "This is definitely interview material I have not encountered before — George Martin and Dr. Bob discuss ghosts, life elsewhere in the universe, ecological concerns... a departure from the [...]

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Benjamin Levi Marks has a new Anthology cooking

By Michael Gerber|2016-03-20T12:45:36-07:00March 20, 2016|Anthology|

Beatles at Twickenham, 1969 This morning, I awoke to a nice comment from Benjamin Levi Marks, the world's pre-eminent scholar on the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. : "Hey! Long time since I checked in. I have finally retired, which frees up a lot of time and energy. This allows me to move forward with my dissection of one month of the Beatles’ career (January, 1969). I certainly fit your blog subtitle to the ‘T’ (People who think about the Beatles maybe a little too much). Mea culpa! Like many of us, I read and was bowled over by the [...]

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About Michael Gerber