A large and lavish box set devoted to one of John Lennon’s least favorably reviewed periods might seem ill-advised, and in some ways it is. But Lennon lovers will find interesting material in the new Power to the People, and even casual fans will discover some pleasures here. The collection, which Sean Ono Lennon […]
This December Day Still Haunts Us The first thing you see when you open the cover of Laurie Kaye’s memoir is an inscription inside the book. “To Laurie, Love, Yoko Ono, December 1980 and John Lennon, 1980. Lennon adds a drawing of the couple’s eyes that is distinct with his glasses and nose. It was […]
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Actual romances have served as the inspiration for countless songs. Here are some of the most commercially successful ones. Peak positions are from Billboard’s Hot 100 pop charts. “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos 1972, peak Billboard position: 10 Eric Clapton famously co-wrote this song (with drummer Jim Gordon) after falling in love with George […]
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Music Reviews: Jerry Phillips, Uncle Lucius, Colin James, Wild Ponies, and Chillingsworth Surfingham Jerry Phillips, For the Universe. Jerry Phillips, the son of legendary Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, grew up rubbing shoulders with icons such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. He also has his own long musical resume. A member […]
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John Lennon’s ‘Mind Games’ Under a Microscope So-called “ultimate” editions of John Lennon’s first two solo albums, 1970’s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and 1971’s Imagine, appeared in 2021 and 2018, respectively. Now we have a similarly fashioned box devoted to his fourth LP, Mind Games, which originally surfaced in 1973. (Lennon’s third release, Some Time in […]
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Music Reviews: Dire Straits’ Live: 1978–1992, the Beatles’ Revamped 1962–1966 and 1967–1970, and the Weeklings Dire Straits’ The Studio Albums 1978–1991, which came out around the beginning of 2021, is excellent, but if your wallet can accommodate only one box from the group, the one to buy is the new Live 1978–1992. In fact, […]
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We Can Work It Out (An Anthology of Beatles Covers), plus the Kinks and Marcel Smith It’s a safe bet that during the Beatles era, many musicians wished they could be members of that group. Since this wasn’t possible, a lot of them contented themselves with recording the Fab Four’s songs. A wide assortment of […]
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“Yummy, Yummy, Yummy I got love in my tummy And I feel like a-lovin’ you” By Arthur Resnick and Joey Levine “Yummy Yummy Yummy” (YYY) is a song by Arthur Resnick and Joey Levine, first recorded by Ohio Express in 1968. Their version reached No. 4 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart in June and […]
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Even if you’re a rabid Beatles fan (and who isn’t?), you may think you’ve seen enough movies related to the group to last a lifetime. Over the past half-century or so, the Fab Four have figured in everything from musical comedies like A Hard Day’s Night and Help to the animated Yellow Submarine to documentaries […]
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