Nancy Carr • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

McCartney and Thackeray: “Queenie Eye” and “Vanity Fair”

By Nancy Carr|2014-12-30T21:29:35-08:00November 21, 2013|"New" album, Paul McCartney, Victorian literature|

NANCY CARR * I believe that—probably without being aware of the parallel himself—Paul McCartney has written, in “Queenie Eye,” a version of Thackeray’s prologue to his 1847 novel Vanity Fair. And I think this reveals some interesting things about how McCartney thinks about performing and his relationship with fame. You’ll remember that I’ve called McCartney the Dickens of rock. In general, I’m increasingly convinced that there are strong strains of Victorianism in his sensibility. I don’t mean the Puritanism that often gets associated with the Victorians, God knows, but the exuberant love of spectacle and the (often sentimental) affection for domesticity. On [...]

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Beatles at the BBC, Volume 2: clearly enjoyable

By Nancy Carr|2013-11-17T05:47:17-08:00November 16, 2013|1964, BBC, Uncategorized|

Just before Paul warned George not to stick that Rickenbacker into John's ear NANCY CARR * I've been listening to "On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2" pretty continuously the past few days, and it's great fun (unsurprisingly, for anyone who's heard volume 1). Of particular note is the astounding clarity of the sound. The warmth and immediacy of the recordings is a large part of what makes the set such a pleasure to listen to. What a superb job of mastering and transferring. "Volume 2" has more between-song talk than "Volume 1," which provides a fascinating window into the [...]

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McCartney, “New,” and “generic genius”: rebutting Ben Greenman

By Nancy Carr|2013-10-16T15:34:36-07:00October 15, 2013|Paul McCartney, Uncategorized|

The new McCartney album, "MEM." NANCY CARR • The "New" album is the occasion for Ben Greenman of The New Yorker to opine about Paul McCartney's "generic genius." That's very much "generic" as in "bland and undistinguished," not as in "genre-spanning." Greenman asserts that the album's title is "almost comically inaccurate," but appears unaware that his own critique recycles cliches about McCartney that are drastic oversimplifications when they're not flat-out false. Now, I haven't heard the whole album yet, so I'm not going to speak to Greenman's assessment of it. What I want to discuss are his sweeping statements about McCartney's [...]

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Bad alternate Beatles history

By Nancy Carr|2014-07-22T22:05:55-07:00October 4, 2013|1970, alternate history|

Ringo, ready to spring into instant diplomatic action NANCY CARR * Usually I can take or leave alternative history experiments, but Geoffrey Himes' "What If The Beatles Hadn't Broken Up?" in Paste is so loony I had to bring it back to the Dullblog community for commentary. [For great alternate Beatles history, see Mark Shipper's Paperback Writer or HD's own Michael Gerber's Life After Death for Beginners.] Part—but only part—of the problem is that Himes' writing is serviceable at best, so the piece comes off as mediocre fan fiction. The much larger problems are with the motivation and plausibility of the [...]

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Three Ways: Beatles write about landscapes

By Nancy Carr|2013-09-09T08:15:53-07:00September 7, 2013|1967, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Strawberry Fields|

NANCY CARR * In the late 60s the Beatles had three strong songwriters (and really, was that fair to other bands?), and thus three distinctive ways of treating the subjects they wrote about—landscapes, love, drugs, etc. (That's without getting into the significant variations within each songwriter's work). This time, I want to consider what Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison saw when they looked at landscapes. Lennon: "Strawberry Fields Forever" (released February 1967) The physical Strawberry Field, in Woolton Inspired by the grounds of the Strawberry Field children's home in Woolton, this song proved so powerful that Lennon's memorial in New York City's Central [...]

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Smile vs. Sgt. Pepper

By Nancy Carr|2013-08-13T22:15:47-07:00August 13, 2013|1967, Beach Boys, Psychedelia, Sgt. Pepper|

The Boys away from the beach, 1967 NANCY CARR • I love the Beach Boys (not the way I love the Beatles, but still), so why can’t I wholeheartedly love Smile? I ask this question sincerely. I think Brian Wilson is a songwriter, singer, and bassist worthy of great praise. I understand why Paul McCartney was so blown away by Pet Sounds that he dreamed up the idea for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I'm glad Smile has finally seen the official light of day, and I'm intrigued by the what-if game of wondering about what might have [...]

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Plea to Paul: Let it be when it comes to claiming credit

By Nancy Carr|2013-08-03T03:02:15-07:00July 29, 2013|1967, John Lennon, Paul McCartney|

Last Thursday Rolling Stone online published an interview with Paul McCartney about his current tour. It sounds like a stellar show—I’m sorry I haven’t been able to see it this year—but I groaned when I got to the part of the interview in which McCartney says, of adding “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” to the setlist, that he was “happy to kind of reclaim it as partially mine.” I just want to say to him: please don’t keep pouring kerosene on those embers. Please step back and let that frustration go, because you’re fueling the dynamic that seems to keep you feeling insecure. Here’s [...]

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Double Fantasy Live: Follow-Up

By Nancy Carr|2013-08-03T03:11:11-07:00June 26, 2013|Double Fantasy|

Yoko Ono and Siouxsie wrap up Meltdown with Walking On Thin Ice. Since I posted about the prospect of Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon doing Double Fantasy live, I wanted to post this link to a review of the performance. Sounds like Sean was just in the band. Carry on --

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I’ve just seen (part of) a face: McCartney on the Colbert Report

By Nancy Carr|2014-10-13T15:28:42-07:00June 24, 2013|Colbert Report, John Lennon, Paul McCartney|

Paul McCartney on The Colbert Report, 6/12/13. NANCY CARR • Paul McCartney's hour-long June 12 appearance on The Colbert Report was great fun -- if you missed it, you can watch it all here. Colbert's introduction was characteristically hilarious and pointed. McCartney plays so many instruments he's "a one-man karoke bar without the weird videos," and Colbert is hosting a "150-person Paul McCartney concert. So Oprah, you and your free cars can suck it." And the interview featured McCartney seeming looser and happier than he's been in many others. Partly this had to be knowing Colbert was a fan who [...]

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Wings Over an Alternate Universe

By Nancy Carr|2014-07-23T11:56:58-07:00June 13, 2013|bootlegs, Paul McCartney, Wings|

The first sign that this bootleg is a bit weirder than usual is the cover—not the straightforward band photo used on many bootlegs of this show, which features Paul in a remarkably hideous pink shirt. That whoever put together this cover thought it would be cool to paste a square-shaped snapshot of Linda's head over that of a painted angel who is facing a different direction is a signal, friends, of more weirdness ahead. The back cover may lull you into a false sense of security. Here, at least, is the standard tracklist for bootlegs of this show. And the bus photo [...]

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