Donald J. Trump and Vlad Putin, chained

[photographer/digital artist unknown]

"Chains, my baby's got me locked up in chains,
And they ain't the kind that you can see.
Whoa, it's chains of love got a hold on me. Yeah!
Chains, well I can't break away from these chains,
Can't run around 'cause I'm not free." 
[Lyrics by Jerry Goffin/Carole King]

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The Beatles celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth (April, 1964)

The Beatles celebrate Shakespeare's 400th birthday with a scene from A Midsummer Nights Dream, as part of a one-hour television special,  [Ed's Note; We could not find credits for the photographer]

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The Beatles in costume and disguise

By Jack Brummet, Music Ed.

We do not own the copyrights to the images, which were collected along the internet.  If you own one of these images, please let us know and we will credit you or remove the image.

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The Beatles perform Please Please Me, warts and all

By Jack Brummet, 20th Century Sounds Ed. 

I am always fascinated by The Beatles live performances.  They were playing giant halls and stadiums using PAs and guitar amplifiers far less powerful than what we see in 100 person clubs now. They couldn't usually overmatch the screaming. When I saw them in '66 in Seattle (their second to last concert performance ever), it was a murky jumble of sound, and the girl's screams won.  It was all made up for by just being in their presence for 25 minutes (yes, that's how long they played, but still, we got our $5 worth).  It is amazing how good they actually sounded, with the deck totally stacked against them...

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Happy 73rd birthday to John Lennon (Woulda, coulda, shoulda)

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Poster for an early John Lennon gig with his band The Quarrymen (who evolved into The Beatles)

By Jack Brummet, Music Ed.

The Quarrymen were a Liverpool skiffle/rock band, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956.  By 1960, they had evolved into The Beatles. This poster is from one of their early gigs, playing at a garden show/dog display/costume parade.  Macca would join the band a few months after this show, and George Harrison joined in early 1958.  Ringo joined The Beatles in 1962, after they sacked their drummer Pete Best.

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44 years ago today, The Beatles performed their final concert (with concert video)

By Jack Brummet, Music Editor

Today is the anniversary of the last live public concert by The Beatles.  On Jan. 30, 1969, The Beatles played on the roof of the Apple Organization building in London. The performance was to be included in Michael Lindsey-Hogg's "Let It Be"[1] -- a documentary about the iconic band.  The word from insiders is that the film will not be released in Paul or Ringo's lifetimes.






[1] According to http://www.ultimate-guitar.com, the 1970 documentary reveals deep tensions among the band.  The film depicts "Paul, Ringo and the late John Lennon and George Harrison - shortly before their break-up, and insiders at the band's record company, Apple, claim the two surviving members do not want it re-released."


"A source said: 'There has been talk of 'Let It Be' finally being released but now there has been a change of heart. The Beatles are still a massive global brand and it's felt it won't be helped if the public sees the darker side of the story.'

"Neither Paul nor Ringo would feel comfortable publicising a film showing The Beatles getting on each other's nerves."


"George Harrison took exception to Paul criticising his guitar playing, while John Lennon appeared disinterested during the entire process - preferring to spend his time with his wife Yoko Ono.
Although the LP was their final release, the group were so disappointed with "Let It Be" they recorded masterpiece "Abbey Road" afterwards and released it before the much-maligned record.

The source added to Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "People like to imagine The Beatles were a happy ship but the reality towards the end was very different as this film shows. There's all sorts of extra footage showing more squabbles but it's unlikely it will ever see the light of day in Paul and Ringo's lifetime."
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The Beatles Unplugged

By Jack Brummet, British Invasion Editor

The Beatles: Unplugged is a bootleg CD thar is so interesting, and sounds so good that Capitol/EMI should release this right now.  

This disc, subtitled "The Kinfaun-Session," referring to George Harrison's home in Esher) contains 23 songs that George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney recorded as demos/works-in-progress in May 1968. Most of the tracks would later appear on The White Album.   This is pretty cool stuff. 

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Communism, Hypnotism, and The Beatles

by Jack Brummet, Music Editor

I am assuming this pamphlet by David A. Noebel was written sometime after John Lennon's statement that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. I remember when this happened in 1966, and how the Tea Party forebears held Beatle burnings across the south and midwest--huge bonfires of LPs, 45s, Beatle wigs, posters, books, and souvenirs. Even then it was clear these people were the lunatic fringe; it wasn't us, listening to what turned out to be fairly innocent and beautiful music. But the religious right aside, I dig the communism angle. Like The Beatles were channeling messages from Nikita Kruschev to the Youth of America.

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The Beatles collaborative guitar solo in :The end:

By Jack Brummet, Music History Editor


Fifty-four seconds into The Beatles' The End are 18 bars of guitar solo: the first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two by Harrison, and the third two are Lennon, then they take one more round. I've listened to this song probably more than a hundred times and I've noticed the different voices in the solo, but I didn't know until tonight that it was a collaborative solo--Paul created it when he mixed the song. Their individual styles are so perfectly represented....

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47 years ago today, The Beatles first played Seattle and fished from their hotel room window

Three bucks!

By Jack Brummet
Rock Editor

47 years ago today, The Beatles first appeared in Seattle at the Seattle Center Coliseum (now called The Arena) and fished from their hotel room at The Edgewater Inn.  According to an article by Greg Lange and Alan J. Stein on historylink.org:



"That evening, the opening acts took to the stage beginning at 8:00 p.m. At 9:25 disc jockey Pat O’Day from radio station KJR, Seattle's leading Rock and Roll station, introduced the Beatles. The crowd went wild.

Ringo fishes from his hotel room at The Edgewater Inn on Elliott Bay

"Screaming fans made the noise in the Coliseum deafening and few if any could hear the songs. The Beatles played: "All My Lovin’," "Twist and Shout," "You Can’t Do That," "She Loves You," "Can’t Buy Me Love," "If I Fell In Love With You," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Boys" (sung solo by Ringo Starr), and "Roll Over Beethoven." They ended the concert with "Long Tall Sally."

"During the concert, hundreds of teenage girls rushed the stage in the hopes of catching the eyes of their idols. Police and firefighters did their best to prevent injuries, but 35 people required first aid treatment, ranging from bumps and bruises to all-out hysteria. One girl was restrained on a stretcher, all the while screaming "Paul! I love you!"

"The Beatles waited an hour before leaving the Coliseum in the rear of an ambulance that returned them to the heavily guarded Edgewater Inn on the waterfront. They earned $34,569 for their performance."

I got to see them there two years later, when I was 13.  That was one of their final shows.  After leaving Seattle, they played two shows in California, and never played in public again except for the famous rooftop concert around their album.

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analog-->digital art: Meet The Beatles

By Jack Brummet

click to enlarge

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An old painting uncovered in our closet: The Beatles

click to enlarge - 2' x 3', poster with acrylic paint, pen, stickers, ephemera, and duct tape

An old piece--Claire recently found this in a pile in one our closets, where it has resided for at least ten or fifteen years. . .

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Video mash-up --> Beatles/Zombies: A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead

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Photo: The Beatles fishing in Seattle

The Beatles fishing from their hotel window at Seattle's Edgewater Inn. You can still fish there. Led Zeppelin famously dropped a line, and Frank Zappa wrote his song "Mud Shark" about fishing there. . .


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The Beatles' You Never Give Me Your Money: music and lyrics

You Never Give Me Your Money is one of my all-time top-ten Beatle songs, for sure. Abbey Road may also be my favorite album, but I am not sure I'd go that far--the competition is fierce and spirited. You Never Give Me Your Money starts off the second side of the LP, with its chain of interlocked tunes spanning the entire side.




You never give me your money
- Lennon/McCartney ('though it was actually) written by Macca

You never give me your money
You only give me your funny paper
and in the middle of negotiations
you break down

I never give you my number
I only give you my situation
and in the middle of investigation
I break down

Out of college, money spent
See no future, pay no rent
All the money's gone, nowhere to go
Any jobber got the sack
Monday morning, turning back
Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
But oh, that magic feeling, nowhere to go
Oh, that magic feeling
Nowhere to go
Nowhere to go

One sweet dream
Pick up the bags and get in the limousine
Soon we'll be away from here
Step on the gas and wipe that tear away
One sweet dream came true... today
Came true... today
Came true... today...yes it did
One two three four five six seven,
All good children go to Heaven
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Characters in Beatles songs (a list)

click the boys to enlarge

I spent some time (probably way too much) tonight writing down the names of every character I remember appearing in a song by The Beatles. I have to have hit somewhere around 90% or so. Remember who you're dealing with here [a codger]. I've been listening to these tunes since around 1963, and more lately since the remastered versions appeared in September, 2009. This was a lot of fun, actually. . .

So, who did I miss?

A barber
A boy
A fireman
A girl
A girl like you
A pretty nurse
A rich man
Another girl
Another lover
Another man
Baby
Bad boy
Beautiful people
Billy Shears
Blackbird
Boys
Boys
Bulldog
Bungalow Bill
Chuck
Crabalocker fishwife
Dan
Dave
Desmond
Doctor Robert
Doris
Edgar Allen Poe
Eggman
Eggmen
Eleanor Rigby
Expert textpert choking smokers
Father Mackenzie
Georgia
Gideon
Hari Krishna
He
Her
Henry the horse
Her Majesty
Him
His Wife
Honey Pie
I
Joan
John
Johnny
Jojo
Jojo
Jude
Julia
Lady Madonna
Lil
Loretta Martin
Loretta Martin’s mother
Lovely Rita
Lucy
Lucy in the sky
Maggie Mae
Magill
Martha
Martha my dear
Mary
Mary Jane
Maxwell
Maxwell Edison
Me
Messrs K and H
Michelle
Miss Lizzy
Mister city policeman
Molly
Mom
Mother Mary
Mother Nature's Son
Mother Superior
Mr. H
Mr. Heath
Mr. K
Mr. Kite
Mr. Postman
Mr. Wilson
Mrs. Robinson
My monkey
Nancy
Nowhere man
Old Flattop
Other Lover
Pablo Fanque
Paul
Peter
Piggies
Pigs
Pigs in a sty
Polythene Pam
Pornographic priestess
Prudence
Rita
Rocky Raccoon
Rose
Rosie
Sergeant Pepper
Semolina Pilchard
Sexy Sadie
She
Sir Walter Raleigh
Taxman
Teddy Boy
The banker
The Blue Meanies
The Eggman
The fool on the hill
The Hendersons
The joker
The Queen
The taxman
The Walrus
Two of us
Valerie
Vera
Wilson
Yoko
You
Your bird
Your boy
Your mother
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The Knickerbockers, one hit wonders and shameless Beatles imitators

The Knickerbockers were Jersey Boys, and one hit wonders (and, as such appeared on the Nuggets compilations). They sounded like a British invasion band in their top 20 hit in early 1966 with "Lies."

We mostly remember the tune today because it is so shamelessly derivative of early Beatles, down to the spot-on imitation of John Lennon... on the lead vocal and the Paul McCartney-style whoops ahead of the guitar solo and later in the song. I think we all liked the tune, because back then two Beatles albums a year just weren't enough.


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Music Slideo: The Beatles' I'll Be Back (with lyrics)

This is one of my favorite Beatles songs. I as reminded of that last night when Three Girls And Their Buddy covered it at their show in Seattle.

This is an outtake from the Beatles Anthology--one of 16 takes.




I'll Be Back
By John Lennon and Paul McCartney

You know, if you break my heart I'll go
But I'll be back again
'cause I told you once before goodbye
But I came back again

I love you so, oh
I'm the one who wants you
Yes I'm the one who wants you
oh, ho, oh, ho, oh

You could find better things to do
Than to break my heart again
This time I will try to show that I'm
Not trying to pretend

I thought that you would realize
That if I run away from you
that you would want me to
But I got a big surprise
Oh, ho, oh, ho, oh

I want to go, oh
But I hate to leave you
You know I hate to leave
Oh, ho, Oh, ho

You, if you break my heart I'll go
But I'll be back again
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A random (but good) collection of Paul McCartney videos...

His band Wings performs Jet (with their strongest band lineup):




Band on the Run:




Paul sings Please Please Me:





Paul Tells A Raunchy Joke:






Drive My Car:






Sgt. Pepper/and a smoking version of The End



The studio version of Band on the Run:


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