Uncategorized Archives | Page 4 of 12 | Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

A John and Yoko movie?

By Michael Gerber|2019-08-15T13:28:20-07:00August 15, 2019|Uncategorized|

Commenter @Hologram Sam found this item on Deadline from last October, and we've been talking about it a little on the Jann Wenner thread, so I thought it was worthy of its own post. Apparently the project teams the director of Dallas Buyers Club, Jean-Marc Vallée, with the screenwriter behind Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't envy them; like the failed Broadway musical, any authorized John and Yoko movie is going to be fighting itself—Yoko will insist that only a certain story will be put forth, but that story (in addition to being oft-told) isn't actually that interesting. John and Yoko certainly felt their [...]

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Willy Chirino, “My Beatles Heart”

By Nancy Carr|2019-08-07T11:00:44-07:00August 7, 2019|Beatle-inspired, Beatles tributes, Covers, Covers, Uncategorized|

Willie Chirino's 2011 collection of Fab Four songs, My Beatles Heart, is one of the few cover albums I listen to regularly all the way through. Chirino is a Cuban-American musician, singer, and songwriter who lives in Florida and was involved in the salsa-based "Miami Sound" back in the 1970s and 80s. I'm not familiar with much of his other music, but I highly recommend My Beatles Heart. I love the way Chirino uses Latin rhythms and instrumentation on these covers and the creativity he shows in referencing other Beatles songs within a cover. On the "Yellow Submarine" version below, for instance, [...]

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“Yesterday,” the film: slight but fun

By Nancy Carr|2019-08-07T00:51:32-07:00July 24, 2019|alternate history, Beatle-inspired, Film, Movies, Uncategorized|

"Yesterday" is wildly implausible, to a degree that makes "Back To The Future" look like a serious exploration of the theory of relativity. It's a sheer waste of time to ask yourself any of the innumerable questions raised by the macguffin that is the film's premise. But if you're willing to suspend your disbelief, it's a pretty fun romp. That's my take, anyway: opinions are certainly divided. Great credit must be given to the cast. Himish Patel's intense likability makes scenes work that really shouldn't. Kate McKinnon steals every frame she's in, as an evil music executive. And Ed Sheeran is believably [...]

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Beatles as Women

By Michael Gerber|2019-07-07T13:05:25-07:00July 7, 2019|Uncategorized|

I think I went to high school with Ringolina. Immediately after running across this delightful bit of Photoshoppery, I knew I had to post the following "Shakespeare's Sister" question: Would the Beatles happen today, if four women came together in a band that great? How would it happen? What would it look like? We know it wouldn't have happened in 1957. But I wonder if we've made enough progress by 2019. Set aside if you like details like the lamentable state of the music business today, or how their time in the Reeperbahn would've worked. What say you?

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Beatles Songs In Latin

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-30T11:24:30-07:00June 30, 2019|Uncategorized|

“Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And for the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry." Rest assured, I didn't translate these myself; I took Latin for five years and never quite got the hang of it. But I got a kick out of these. Classicists, add more in the comments. heri (Yesterday)via longa et flexuosa (The Long and Winding Road)illa te amat (She Loves You) sit (Let It Be)trans mundum (Across the Universe) tantum dormio (I'm Only Sleeping) salve vale (Hello Goodbye)hic et illic et ubique (Here There and Everywhere) quidam dies in vita (A Day [...]

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Lennon and McCartney’s “lost reunion,” by David Gambacorta

By Nancy Carr|2019-06-25T11:11:23-07:00June 25, 2019|1974, Beatles in LA, bootlegs, Breakup, Chris Carter/Breakfast With the Beatles, Harry NIlsson, John and Paul, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Unreleased/Outtakes|

Posted at the excellent aggregator and original writing site Longreads is David Gambacorta's exploration of the 1974 California jam session John Lennon and Paul McCartney engaged in -- the last time they would play together. Most Beatles fans will be familiar with the history Gambacorta recounts, but it's nice to see it laid out succinctly. Gambacorta does turn up a few facts that were, at least, new to me: for example, it's not clear what happened to the master tapes made that night. And the piece is well worth reading for the recent comments Gambacorta got from several people, including Elliot Mintz, [...]

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Pictures of Beatles and Pot?

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-21T13:01:35-07:00June 21, 2019|Drugs, Uncategorized|

I had a funny little thought today: we know the Beatles smoked a progidious amount of marijuana. Even Paul McCartney, the Beatle most likely to get you home by eleven p.m., smoked so relentlessly that he was actually thrown in jail for smuggling. But I couldn't recall a single photo of any Beatle with a joint, or even any paraphernalia. These, the most relentlessly photographed humans on Earth. No friend or fan ever snapped them with a doobie hanging from their lip? A statuesque bong lurking defiantly in a corner? It beggars the imagination. What about you? Ever seen one? Link to [...]

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McCartney Talks Carpool Karaoke

By Nancy Carr|2019-06-21T11:14:32-07:00June 21, 2019|Interviews, Live, Liverpool, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Television, Uncategorized|

The Paul McCartney episode of Carpool Karaoke has been so wildly popular (about 130 million people have watched it on YouTube or Facebook, and it spawned an extended version as well) that it's hard to imagine that the show almost didn't happen. But it's true. McCartney and Corden in the car. I saw McCartney play at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX on June 14 (another three-hour marathon, featuring 38 songs), and the tour program includes a lengthy interview with the following exchange: You made even more headlines when your appearance on Carpool Karaoke went globally viral, generating millions of views. And [...]

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All Hail the Rutles!

By Michael Gerber|2019-06-19T18:55:11-07:00June 19, 2019|Uncategorized|

I've mentioned this sublime Beatles parody band many times before on this blog, but if you love the Fabs there's never a good time not to celebrate the Pre-Fabs: Ron, Dirk, Stig and Barry. This afternoon I quite randomly happened to listen to "Let's Be Natural" and was struck, for the millionth time, what a wonderful bunch of work this all is. https://youtu.be/qin4o5TXfzw The Rutles began as a segment on Eric Idle's post-Python project "Rutland Weekend Television" (which also boasted an appearance by George Harrison). Thanks to the songwriting genius of Neil Innes, and an assist from Lorne Michaels, this bit was [...]

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Abbey Road, the Best Non-Beatles Album Made by the Beatles

By Michael Bleicher|2019-08-24T14:45:13-07:00June 19, 2019|Uncategorized|

To me, Abbey Road is one of the least-dated-sounding Beatles albums—possibly the least dated—but it also sounds the least like the Beatles. Oh, there are Beatles playing on it, I’ll grant you that. The generally impeccable songwriting—that melding of optimism, expression, rawness, craft, and pure joy—could only have come from three particular songwriters. And that’s unquestionably John, Paul, George and Ringo strutting across the cover. But to me there’s always been something about this album that doesn’t sound like the Beatles, and it’s not just the super-slick production or the fact that Ringo’s drums sound a little thicker than they do on [...]

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