John Lennon, RIP

One of the saddest things about Lennon’s murder is that despite the wealth and fame he found in his years with the Beatles, in 1980 he was only just beginning to find happiness in his life.

At the risk of sounding hokey, Lennon and the Beatles remain one of the few inspirations in my life, and I’ve been a fan for nearly thirty years.  They inspired me to play, respect and enjoy music.

R.I.P.

Blogger’s block

There’s nothing worse than a blogger forcing a post, which is why this blog has been a bit silent over the past few days.  There’s a lot going on, but nothing is getting me going in terms of blogging.

But I have this clip of Frank Zappa on the Monkees:

Zappa ripping into the synthetic Monkees phenomenon of 1966-1967 always cracks me up.

The Beatles are now on iTunes

They finally did it:

That screenshot is one for the ages.

Another year, another Beatles/iTunes rumor

Take it for what it’s worth, but the WSJ is reporting that Apple has struck a deal with EMI and the surviving Beatles to release their catalog on iTunes:

Apple Inc. is preparing to announce that its iTunes Store will soon start carrying music by the Beatles, according to people familiar with the situation, a move that would fill in a glaring gap in the collection of the world’s largest music retailer.

The deal resulted from talks that were taking place as recently as last week among executives of Apple, representatives of the Beatles and their record label, EMI Group Ltd,, according to these people. These people cautioned that Apple could change plans at the last minute.

Spokesmen for Apple, EMI and Paul McCartney declined to comment.

Apple on Monday posted a notice on the home page of its iTunes Store that it would make “an exciting announcement” Tuesday morning.

First off, I’m a Beatles fan but I’m no sycophant.  The first thing  I did when I got my iPod was download my entire Beatles catalog, and I’m sure most Beatles fans did the same.  If the catalog was available at midnight tonight, I don’t think I’d be paying to download songs I already have, even if they were Beatles songs.  Maybe I’d stare at the iTunes screen for a bit, but that’s about it.  Bottom line is, anyone who really wants Beatles music on their iPod so badly, would have bought the CDs and ripped them.  End of story.

On its website, Apple is saying that an announcement for something is coming tomorrow and that “Tomorrow is just another day.  That you’ll never forget”.  Here is a screenshot:

The tie in of course, is that McCartney released a tune called “Another Day” early in his solo career.  But some people are reading way too much into that message, among other subliminal clues, although it would be cool if it came to fruition.   As for me, nobody really knows what’s going down with Apple tomorrow.  To wit, here is a Beatles tune that is a bit more relevant:

Just for the record, I would seriously consider a yellow Beatles iPod preloaded with the catalog.

Election Day Eve Music Post

Listen to Count Five: 

Season of the Witch

Summer ended later than usual here in the Garden State.  As late as less than two weeks ago, we had temperatures hit the low 80s. 

Temps have dropped considerably over the last ten days, and over the last few days specifically.  Today there was a crisp breeze in the air, temps got no higher than low 60s and you can finally notice some pronounced foliage. 

Summer’s long gone, but you gotta love autumn.

iPod Open Thread

Another gem from my iPod Classic:

iPod Open Thread

A random track from my iPod:

A great tune to wrap up a long week

Open Thread

It’s about 85 degrees today and sunny and, more importantly, no humidity.   Until today, this has been the summer of 100 degree temps and full-blast humidity.  Either that or it rains.

Going out to enjoy the day.

But first, some summer music:

Revolver

On this date in 1966, the Beatles released Revolver.

Revolver was right on par with, if not better than, Sgt. Pepper.

Beatles hagiography drives me nuts.  The Beatles were not gods, and were by no means perfect musically.  But their music stands the test of time.  Like all other musical acts, their music needs to be put in the perspective of the era in which it was produced.

And not for nothing, that period from 1966 through early 1968 is probably the best quality period in pop music history.