Revolver, a 1966 album that received box-set treatment in 2022, arguably represents the biggest and most significant artistic leap of the Beatles’ career. Rubber Soul, its immediate predecessor, is not far behind in that regard, however. Portions of this chart-topping sixth Beatles album exhibit such an advance from its own predecessor, the Help! soundtrack, that […]
Paul McCartney The Boys of Dungeon Lane Being a half-century-long Paul McCartney fan since my mid-1970s childhood days, I have been there through a good portion of Paul’s post-Beatles career, through the hits and successes, as well as the misses and missteps. As an album listener, I am not one to want to put something […]
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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: 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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Dead of Winter “I will measure up my life, my days as they go screaming by With Xs on the calendar, till pennies on my eyes I will count my many blessings with gratefulness my mentor And I will count myself in luck as I count the dead of winter” An unfinished song by […]
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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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“Ignore the man behind the curtain Ignore the puppets strings Ignore the lies and nonsense Of those who would be king” Wind of Change by Randy Lewis Brown I don’t normally use my own songs when I write about music stuff but this particular lyrical reference to the title song from my upcoming album was […]
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