Album review: Billy Preston, That’s the Way God Planned It

As a lifelong Beatles fan, I’m interested in any Beatle-related project. Recently (and I’ve reviewed several of the releases here), I’ve purchased several great releases from the Beatles’ Apple label. Many of these albums had direct involvement from individual Beatles (and in some cases, multiple Beatles). The latest album up for discussion is one of [...]

Album review: Yoko Ono, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band

There was a time I fell into the naive segment of Beatles fandom who believed John Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono was a big factor in dissolving the band. I also was pretty dismissive of Yoko’s merits as an artist, particularly as a musician, without ever really listening to her music and investigating what it [...]

Album review: Jackie Lomax, Is This What You Want?

Jackie Lomax never made it big in the record business, although the opportunity was certainly there for him in the late 60s. The stars aligned perfectly for him when he landed on the Beatles’ Apple Records label in 1968. The Beatles had known Lomax for several years, as the soul singer hailed from Liverpool just [...]

30 years ago today

On Dec. 8, 1980, a crazed sociopath (who shall remain nameless, since all he wanted was to be famous) gunned down one of the most influential musicians and songwriters of all time. John Lennon was assassinated in front of the Dakota apartment building he shared with wife Yoko Ono and five-year old son Sean. They [...]

Beatles finally on iTunes

Here’s a post I wrote for my friend Stan’s wonderful blog, The Ignorant Immigrant: It’s been quite the long and winding road when it comes to the Beatles and iTunes. Since the online music store was launched seven years ago, it has tried to strike a deal with the Beatles and their legal representatives which [...]

The Beatles’ White Album is awesome (and other odds and ends)

“Odds and ends, odds and ends, lost time is not found again” – Bob Dylan and the Band, The Basement Tapes Some random thoughts and observations…. If I had to choose one album I couldn’t live without, one I could literally listen to every day if I had to, it would be The Beatles’ White [...]

Beatlemania lives

It’s about time. The Beatles, the greatest rock band of all time in my and many others’ humble opinions, finally get the sonic treatment they deserved with this week’s re-release of their entire catalogue, digitally remastered. The release coincides with the unveiling of the Beatles RockBand video game to the world, which gives the band [...]

No Macca-Dylan duet after all

Guess this was just something that got stoked on the internet coals. It’s a shame, because I would have loved to see a McCartney-Dylan collaboration. http://www.digitalspy.com/music/a162585/mccartney-no-plans-for-dylan-duet.html

Macca touring this summer

What started out as a few dates at the Mets’ Citifield in July (the first concerts to be put on at the ballpark) has turned into a full-blown U.S. tour for Sir Paul McCartney. My brother Carl and I saw Macca back in 2005 care of tickets scored by one of my co-workers Tim Aten [...]