"We can work it out",
hopes Paul, while John sternly warns,
"Life is very short".
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday haiku - "Day Tripper"
It's a play on words:
"day trippers" are fake druggies,
mere "Sunday drivers".
"day trippers" are fake druggies,
mere "Sunday drivers".
Today in Beatles history
It was on this day in 1967 that possibly the most iconic album cover in pop music history came into being. Read more here.
Excerpt:
The concept eventually evolved into The Beatles dressing up as the pretend group and being surrounded by some of their pop culture and historical heroes. The last vestiges of the “park” idea surfaced in the floral display that spelled out The Beatles at the bottom of the cover.
Blake and Haworth began putting together the cover’s collage, titled “People We Like,” by taking suggestions from the band. McCartney, Lennon and Harrison were responsible for the majority of the people chosen (Ringo Starr let the other guys pick), although Blake and Fraser contributed some ideas, too. The end result was a pretty strange menagerie – Karl Marx, Marilyn Monroe, Sigmund Freud, Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando, Laurel and Hardy, and Edgar Allen Poe were among the 70 images. Although it’s not remembered who suggested each person, Lennon requested Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler and Mohandas Gandhi. Of the three, only Gandhi made it to the photo shoot, although the image was removed before the cover went to press because of political reasons.
. . .
On this day in 1967, the cover shoot took place at photographer Michael Cooper’s studio. With the Fab Four dressed up in day-glo colored military uniforms, the evening shoot lasted for three hours. By night’s end, the Beatles, Fraser, Blake and Haworth had created an iconic image.
The final bill for the album artwork was £2,868 5s 3d (which would be equivalent to about £39,000 or $60,000 today). It’s been reported that this was 100 times the average cost for an album cover in 1967.
Excerpt:
The concept eventually evolved into The Beatles dressing up as the pretend group and being surrounded by some of their pop culture and historical heroes. The last vestiges of the “park” idea surfaced in the floral display that spelled out The Beatles at the bottom of the cover.
Blake and Haworth began putting together the cover’s collage, titled “People We Like,” by taking suggestions from the band. McCartney, Lennon and Harrison were responsible for the majority of the people chosen (Ringo Starr let the other guys pick), although Blake and Fraser contributed some ideas, too. The end result was a pretty strange menagerie – Karl Marx, Marilyn Monroe, Sigmund Freud, Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando, Laurel and Hardy, and Edgar Allen Poe were among the 70 images. Although it’s not remembered who suggested each person, Lennon requested Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler and Mohandas Gandhi. Of the three, only Gandhi made it to the photo shoot, although the image was removed before the cover went to press because of political reasons.
. . .
On this day in 1967, the cover shoot took place at photographer Michael Cooper’s studio. With the Fab Four dressed up in day-glo colored military uniforms, the evening shoot lasted for three hours. By night’s end, the Beatles, Fraser, Blake and Haworth had created an iconic image.
The final bill for the album artwork was £2,868 5s 3d (which would be equivalent to about £39,000 or $60,000 today). It’s been reported that this was 100 times the average cost for an album cover in 1967.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
My favorite Beatles song at the moment
It's been a while since one Beatles song really grabbed my attention and pushed the others to the background. This changed once I spent some quality time with "She's a Woman," Paul's blues-fueled rocker that boasts one of his most rousing vocal spots. It's a B-side that surely could have been an A-side.
Enjoy:
(If the video is removed, go here.)
Enjoy:
(If the video is removed, go here.)
Tuesday haiku - "I'm Down"
On this brisk rave-up,
Paul howls like Little Richard,
one of his heroes.
Paul howls like Little Richard,
one of his heroes.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday haiku - "Yes It Is"
"Yes" was John's attempt
at reproducing "This Boy";
both are lush ballads.
at reproducing "This Boy";
both are lush ballads.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Weekend reading #2
"'I Don't Believe in Beatles'": John Lennon's Minimalist Journey to Independence" - a breakdown of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band through the prism of its sonic minimalism and lyrical bluntness.
Excerpt:
Plastic Ono Band is now universally regarded as not only Lennon’s most important post-Beatles effort, but one of the greatest records in pop history. So many years removed from the record’s original release, it is difficult to imagine what an audacious artistic move it was for Lennon to make this album. Not only did Lennon run the risk of alienating his fans with the lyrics rejecting his past self, but his artistic principles stood in contrast to those employed during much of the Beatles’ career. In making the austere Plastic Ono Band, one source of Lennon’s inspiration was the “primal scream” therapy he was undergoing at the time. The primitive nature of Lennon’s vocals and the confessional mode of his lyrics clearly reflect his therapeutic experiences. The record’s musical minimalism in arrangement and sonic texture support the “primal” concept effectively. The listener often has the feeling of being alone in a quiet room with only Lennon’s inner reflections. Lennon’s bold turn to the minimal, though, was not just a result of his lyrical introspection and personal circumstances. Rather, the former Beatle was clearly placing himself in diametric aesthetic opposition to not only Paul, George, and Ringo, but the John of the Beatle era.
Excerpt:
Plastic Ono Band is now universally regarded as not only Lennon’s most important post-Beatles effort, but one of the greatest records in pop history. So many years removed from the record’s original release, it is difficult to imagine what an audacious artistic move it was for Lennon to make this album. Not only did Lennon run the risk of alienating his fans with the lyrics rejecting his past self, but his artistic principles stood in contrast to those employed during much of the Beatles’ career. In making the austere Plastic Ono Band, one source of Lennon’s inspiration was the “primal scream” therapy he was undergoing at the time. The primitive nature of Lennon’s vocals and the confessional mode of his lyrics clearly reflect his therapeutic experiences. The record’s musical minimalism in arrangement and sonic texture support the “primal” concept effectively. The listener often has the feeling of being alone in a quiet room with only Lennon’s inner reflections. Lennon’s bold turn to the minimal, though, was not just a result of his lyrical introspection and personal circumstances. Rather, the former Beatle was clearly placing himself in diametric aesthetic opposition to not only Paul, George, and Ringo, but the John of the Beatle era.
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