Tim Riley's Blog, page 20
October 10, 2011
HAMBURG LENNON LETTER TO HARRISON FAMILY
This letter appears on page 48 of the new Olivia Harrison book
Living in the Material World
, a better version of last week's HBO special (see Wyman's Slate review, from below). There are rumors about scads of letters in Lennon's hand from this period, which Hunter Davies will collect for publication next year. On the right, Astrid Kirchherr stands in front of a line at the Cavern, 1964 (p. 76). 
October 7, 2011
ON POINT, TOM ASHBROOK, LENNON'S BIRTHDAY
Aired October 4, 2011, anticipating Lennon's October 9 birthday. Tim Riley discusses his new Lennon biography. See his author page for upcoming appearances in NYC, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
October 6, 2011
BILL WYMAN ON SCHLOCKUMENTARIES: SCORCESE'S HARRISON
Image via Wikipedia
Finally, the film really never investigates the real mystery of Harrison: What was he so morose about? Now, Ringo Starr is one who appreciates the cosmic joke life played on him. He has a cheerful acceptance of life's whimsy, hiding what no doubt has been his daily prayers since circa 1963: "Please, God, I don't know what a goofball like me did to deserve this life, but thank you very much, and please let me know if I'm doing anything that would cause you to end it." Harrison, by contrast, has always had a sense of the aggrieved about him. I just don't know what the source of it was. In Harrison's mini-autobiography at the front of I Me Mine , the unasked-for collection of his song lyrics, he seems mostly unhappy about ... the travel indignities he suffered during the Beatles years. In the documentary, Scorsese plays the price-of-fame card heavily. "It's fun," Starr says, "early on. But then you want it to stop, and it never does." -- in SLATERelated articlesScorsese's George Harrison doc: Within Him Without Him (time.com)Scorsese's George Harrison Documentary To Premiere Tonight On HBO (wncx.radio.com)Beatles Reunite! Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Join Forces to Honor George Harrison (eonline.com)
September 26, 2011
JULIA STANLEY LENNON, ALLERTON CEMETERY
When I last visited in 2008, this gravestone was still missing. My guess is that her daughter Julia Dykins Baird Lennon had it placed there after being unmarked for many years. Still a very moving place: imagine the young Lennon visiting his mother's ghost.
September 22, 2011
R.E.M., ROCK MECHANICS
Image via Wikipedia
[audio] My favorite memory of REM: driving around upstate New York in 1985 to catch encores, which could include everything from "I'll Be Your Mirror" to "Hang on Sloopy." In an interview for Rochester's City Newspaper, Buck turned me on to the Plimsouls. Favorite obscurity: "Superman" (The Clique, 1969).
September 20, 2011
10 INDOMITABLE LENNON TRACKS
This first list ran in the Kirkus newsletter this week, the second list got dumped:
Riley's 10 Favorite Lennon Tracks
"Ten is way too hard, but it's a very illuminating exercise," Riley said when asked to list his favorites. "Once you do it, you realize Lennon remains among a handful of songwriters from whose catalog you can create several such lists and still feel like you're shorting much of his best work."
That said, here's his list, in chronological order:
"If I Fell"
"She Loves You"
"And Your Bird Can Sing"[image error]
"Strawberry Fields Forever"
"Don't Let Me Down"
"Dear Prudence"
"Cold Turkey"
"Happiness is a Warm Gun"
"Beautiful Boy"
10 FAVORITE LENNON VOCALS (covers)
To Know Her Is To Love Her
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby
Anna
Baby It's You
Money
You've Really Got a Hold On Me
Leave My Kitten Alone
Twist and Shout
Dizzy Miss Lizzie (live 1969)
Stand By Me
September 18, 2011
ASTRID KIRCHHERR'S LOST 1963 BEATLES PHOTOS
Kirchherr, who is 73, gave up photography in the late 1960s, frustrated by the unending requests for her Beatles images. Yet she remains an indelible presence in the mythology of pop. It can be a heavy legacy. "I had a great time sharing my memories, but I'm getting a bit tired of performing," Kirchherr said. So on Sept. 24 and 25, the New York auction house Guernsey's will lessen the burden by offering for sale Kirchherr's entire Beatles-related photographic archive, about 600 lots in all, including her original negatives (along with the rights to their use) and rarely seen images like the ones from Tenerife. (Kirchherr says she believes the image printed on this page might have been taken by Harrison with her camera.) "For me," Kirchherr said, "they are still my dear friends, not the Beatles."
Meanwhile, Lennon and Epstein flew to Spain.
I Me Mine: Personal Pronouns of the Beatles
Things We Said Today: A Linguistic Analysis of the Beatles
September 17, 2011
SINEAD, ROCK PROPHET
I have often wondered how long it would take for people to stand up for Sinead O'Connor and proclaim how right she was on SNL in 1992, or how demoralizing it was to watch her get booed off Dylan's stage a few weeks later. Like how many years will it take for people to start using the dreaded Vietnam term "quagmire" for Afghanistan and Iraq wars?
Think the Hague will invite her to testify?
September 9, 2011
DETEROIRATA XI:3
BUT SCOUSERS DON'T READ THE SUN: Lennon's immigration form, c. 1980
FANTASY HITS: Eddie Floyd's "Big Bird," London, 2011
CHAIN OF FOOLS: Origins of Hip-Hop
August 4, 2011
Alison Krauss, Union Station, Rock Star Haircuts
Image via Wikipedia
Overflow Chautauqua Festival crowd last Friday night for these bluegrass giants, and they reverse booted a set that made grandmothers snicker and grown men giggle. Krauss has developed into the least cloying sentimental singer imaginable, and she presides over her whipsmart men like a bemused den mother. They have all the chops you could want, more, harmonize with her in ways both dreamy and dark, and then they get down to impressing one another. Jerry Douglas has a pretty-boy haircut that doesn't quite fit his rock star gait, and while he's dobro's Hendrix he can be distracting, loaming around stage left like he still has much to prove. And perhaps Richard Thomson's "Dimming of the Day" treaded a trifle slow -- they thrive on their virtuosity with downtempos -- but they pretty much have you at hello. Secret weapon: "angry farmer" Dan Tyminski, who sounds just like George Clooney. For the encore, a brief acoustic set at a single mic, featuring "Down to the River," from O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU. Warm-up act Dawes displayed a fervent commitment to slow, steady uplift, and when the material catches up to their ensemble, they'll have an act.Related articlesKrauss and band simply masterful (boston.com)Show Announcement: Alison Krauss & Union Station August 26 & 27 (rymanauditorium.wordpress.com)
