RIGHT: James McCartney aka "Chip Stills"
You may have heard this already, but the kids of the Beatles are talking about getting together and forming a group. Good or bad idea? Remember the hype that poor Julian Lennon suffered under?
Apr 042012
Feb 252012
Did you catch George Harrison‘s son, Dhani, on Conan the other night? I did. Dhani was promoting a new app he helped develop that presents his father’s “stunning stash of vintage axes.” The app, like most apps, didn’t turn me on—not to mention the fact that I’m typically not into gear porn—but Harrison the Younger was delightful: loaded with poise, charm, humor, and all the qualities we could hope for in George’s kid.
It took awhile for Dhani to catch on, didn’t it? While John’s boys, Julian and Sean, long ago burst on the scene and then settled into the occasional feature trumpeting a new, understated release…while Stella McCartney has spent years as a celebrated fashion designer (not that I would understand that scene, but I do see photos of her arm-in-arm with celebrities and fellow fashion designers)…while Zak Starkey follows in the footsteps of Keith Moon to prove to the world that he’s a bigger son of a drummer than Jason Bonham…Dhani seemed to be kept under wraps until he appeared on stage as part of a star-studded tribute to his father, playing acoustic guitar on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Let’s face it: Dhani has claimed the title of Coolest Offspring of a Beatle. It’s looking like he’ll have to mess up royally to lose that title, unless Paul’s 8-year-old kid from his failed marriage to Hamish Stuart Heather Mills develops into a childhood sensation or one of his other kids with Linda springs forward and does something special.
So who is the second-coolest offspring among members of The Beatles?
Dec 132011
Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, who was believed to have died of an accidental drug overdose in 1967, is now believed to have staged his death to join a Soviet-era psych-pop band. The following video has surfaced of a band in Sgt. Pepper’s-inspired (yet perfectly matching) outfits showing a thinner, more haggard looking Epstein (to the right of the screen) singing lead vocals. Little is known about the band and even less is known about the pronunciation of its name. Sov-pop experts suspect his knowing wink at the 46-second mark was a sign to Red-loving Paul McCartney, who had been toying with staging his own death and fleeing to the U.S.S.R. To date, no other signs of Epstein’s musical career or life beyond this point are known.
Dec 062011
Could it be?
The current issue of Rolling Stone has a feature article of the “100 Greatest Guitarists.” Would you care guess who came in first place? Continue reading »
Nov 272011
About 4 1/2 minutes into this old episode of Powerpuff Girls a Beatles-themed episode breaks out. Feel free to count the Beatles references, if you must.
Oct 182011
I finally got a chance to watch Nowhere Boy, the early John Lennon biopic starring Aaron Johnson, the titular star of Kick-Ass, and Kristin Scott-Thomas (as Aunt Mimi) tonight. It was solid. I usually dislike biopics, especially artist biopics, but once this film got past an eddy of Oedipal issues between young John and Julia (Get a room, already!, I was feeling at one point) it stuck to a pretty down-to-earth imagining of Lennon’s late-teenage life and his formation of the eventual Beatles. It certainly helped that the actors portraying the musicians actually knew how to play guitar. As far as Beatles biopics go, I wouldn’t rank it near the best, The Rutles’ All You Need Is Cash, or the most interesting portrayal of early Beatles speculation, 1991’s The Hours and Times, but it did its part to recount some key articles of faith.
I DVR’d this Lennon flick from Showtime. Following the credits there was the above trailer for a new U2 documentary, From the Sky Down, on the making of my favorite album by them, Achtung Baby. This trailer has Recounting of Articles of Faith written all over it! It debuts Saturday, October 29.
What’s the most recent rock flick you’ve seen? What’s the next rock flick you plan to see?
Oct 122011
No joke, I’ve felt left out. I’m really curious to hear whether anyone watched Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison, or whatever that recent HBO documentary was called—and what you thought about it.
