Posts tagged ‘The Beatles’

November 7th, 2010

John Lennon ‘Honoured’ With Commemorative UK Coin

by PaulM

John Lennon’s image will appear on a commemorative coin issued in England thanks to a popular vote conducted by the Royal Mint. He joins other notable persons who have received this “honour,” including Shakespeare, Churchill, Darwin, and Florence Nightingale.

If England can manage this kind of tribute for John Lennon, we should be able to get a Jack Kerouac commemorative stamp in the U.S. before the centennial of his birth in 2022, right Dean?

Read the news here courtesy of NPR and the Associated Press. 

2_Britain_John_Lennon.sff.jpg

CategoryCulture, Current Events, History, Lowell | Comment3 Comments »

Tags:
October 9th, 2010

All-John All Day

by PaulM

Here’s the link for the Paul McCartney fan-site that today is playing John Lennon songs on its “Macca Radio” feature all day. On the right side of the page select the music listening tool that you prefer.

There’s a John Lennon YouTube channel loaded with content. Look for the clip from the upcoming American Masters program about him.

Also, www.beatles.com has lots of info today.

Boston.com has a round-up article about Lennon tributes today and this week.

The Liverpool Echo has the hometown report on a Lennon tribute sculpture unveiled today by his first wife, Cynthia, and son Julian.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
October 8th, 2010

John Lennon’s Birthday Gifts

by PaulM

Tomorrow would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday if his life had not been taken away in December 1980. Recently, there’s been some talk in our community about Lowell and Liverpool, Kerouac and The Beatles, with similarities being pointed out. Lennon’s life and artistic legacy continue to generate interest and be the subject of new recordings, films, and books. In today’s NYTimes, reporter Allan Kozinn describes several new music and film projects. Here’s the link; get the NYT if you appreciate the content. The photo below shows the Lennon tribute in New York City’s Central Park, a small area called Strawberry Fields. People visit and leave items expressing affection and messages of remembrance in the same way that pilgrims do at Kerouac’s grave in Edson Cemetery in Lowell.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
October 6th, 2010

Liverpool Link

by PaulM

Last week, both Jim Cook of the Lowell Plan and I talked to a Boston Globe business reporter about Jack Kerouac and his impact on our city, particularly from marketing and economic perspectives, and referenced what Liverpool, England, has experienced through the legacy of The Beatles. Skip ahead a week, and the Liverpool football club in on the verge of becoming part of Red Sox Nation. Here’s a Globe report from boston.com that covers basic facts about Liverpool and its soccer.

CategoryCulture, History, Lowell | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
September 18th, 2010

15 in 15

by PaulM

Our comrade (he won’t like me calling him that, heh heh) in blogging Kad Barma over there on Choosing a Soundtrack mentioned something called 15 for 15 going around on Facebook. The idea being for people to take 15 minutes and list the 15 “record albums,” no matter what technology I guess (LP/33s, 8-track, cassette, CD, comparable download), “that will always stick with them.” It’s a little bit different than asking someone what he or she would take to a desert island. (I had to look up “desert island” because, well, I never thought about that term even though I’ve heard it many times. There are no islands in the desert, right? Means “uninhabited” island.)So, these may or may not be my 15 all-time favorites, but they are weighted with importance for various reasons. Here’s my list without a lot of commentary and not in order of importance. I don’t know if picking ”greatest hits collections” is cheating, but I did, and I combined The Beatles’ film music from their first two movies because they go together in time for me. I decided not to pick anything less than 20 years old. Following are a few newer choices that have the potential to “stick.”

1. A Hard Day’s Night & Help!, The Beatles (I counted the movie music as a double album)

2. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan

3. Abraxas, Santana

4. Tapestry, Carole King

5. Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings

6. Abbey Road, The Beatles

7. Hegira, Joni Mitchell

8. The Best of Leonard Cohen

9. The Best of Van Morrison

10. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

11. Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers

12. The Beatles (The White Album)

13. Graceland, Paul Simon

14. Real Live John Sebastian

15. After the Gold Rush, Neil Young

Newer recordings that have possibilities for long-term stickiness:

1. Innocence & Despair, The Langley Schools Music Project (low-tech recordings of school kids in Canada playing and singing classic rock)

2. Mermaid Avenue, Billy Bragg & Wilco (memorable new music inspired by unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics)

3. Trouble, Ray Lamontagne (the Great White French Canadian-American Hope from Maine)

4. Live from the Royal Albert Hall, The Killers (the DVD is even better on HD)

5. Concert for George, Various Artists (a tribute to George Harrison by music giants, also in Royal Albert Hall coincidentally—as in… how many holes it takes to fill…)

6. The River Turns the Wheel, Bob Martin (this work is a high point in Lowell’s music history)

7. One Fast Move or I’m Gone : Music from Kerouac’s Big Sur, Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard (I had to pick this one because I’m in this movie, and the songs are outstanding)

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | Comment3 Comments »

Tags:
August 15th, 2010

Liverpool Celebrates 50 Years of The Beatles

by PaulM

macca-central.com news image

Read this Toronto Star report about this month’s celebration of The Beatles in their hometown of Liverpool, England. The events include a special version of the annual Mathew Street Music Festival (Aug. 29-30), which is billed as “Europe’s largest free music festival.” That description should sound familiar to Lowell Folk Festival people, as in “largest” and “free.” Mathew Street is the address of the famous Cavern music club where The Beatles first played in Liverpool under that name on August 18, 1960. This year’s Festival will include tribute bands from around the world playing every song on every Beatles’ album in a marathon session. Liverpool, after some narrow-minded objections by some local politicians in the late 1970s, is all the way on The Beatles bandwagon these days and reaping benefits for the city. Liverpool has destination sites with exhibits, daily tours of downtown and the neighborhoods, the National Trust-preserved homes of John and Paul in their youth, merchandise in many shops, a theme hotel, bus graphics, the summer festival, Paul McCartney’s “fame school” (Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts), a master’s degree program in Beatles Studies at Liverpool Hope University (7,000 students), and more. This robust infrastructure of places and programs holds a lesson for Lowell when thinking about our city’s world renowned author.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
July 29th, 2010

Who Says We Don’t Read the WSJ at RH.COM?

by PaulM

From today’s Wall Street Journal’s  “On Wine” column, there’s a snapshot of toney Long Island leisure-time with a cameo appearance by Sir Paul McCartney and his woman friend, Nancy Shevell, at one of the preferred eating spots. A little window onto how the other half lives, I suppose. But Lowell has its celebrity moments, too, such as the evening when Johnny Depp ate dinner at La Boniche at the old location on Gorham Street, now Ricardo’s, which holds its own when it comes to fine wine. Read the wine writer’s dispatch here, and consider subscribing to the WSJ if you appreciate the view.

CategoryCulture, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
July 18th, 2010

Joan Armatrading: Lowell and London

by PaulM

John Wooding of UMass Lowell and the COOL Board of Directors is a regular at the Lowell Summer Music Series. He sent us this instant review of Joan Armatrading’s performance at Boarding House Park last night, which sparked a cross-Atlantic memory for him. —PM

“Another great night at Boarding House Park.  Joan Armatrading was in fine fettle and clearly enjoying herself.  It took me back — way back.  I remember the last time I saw her, maybe 1977?  She was playing at Chalk Farm in London.  Thirty-three years ago.  Time like that is an oil slick. 

“Last night she did old and new stuff and the old stuff brought it back for me – Love and Affection, Show Some Emotion — s’funny how songs can be the jumper cables of memory.  Only reason I remember that other concert (although I have a vague image of her — young, very young, and self conscious) was that a friend was staying with me then and came to the show.  Later that night, back at my flat, he fell against the record deck and sent the needle skidding across my copy of “Let It Be.”  Sent the little arm on a vacation “Across the Universe.”  I had to listen to that click for years until I got the CD.

“Thirty-three years.  The speed of an LP on the turntable.  Another hot summer night in Lowell.  Perfect evening.  In front of me last night, three young women —  maybe 16, 17 — rocking out to Armatrading, knowing all the words from all the songs, high-fiving each other when a favorite got played.  So good to see them, connecting the times.  This is what Lowell can sometimes do so well.  History getting up there with the present and, maybe, even the future.  Score another one for the music series.”

—John Wooding

CategoryCulture, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
July 10th, 2010

Ringo’s Very Special Birthday Party

by PaulM

Well, it really must have been something to be at Radio City Music Hall the other night when Ringo Starr and friends celebrated  his 70th birthday in NYC. The evening ended with a massive sing-along on “With a Little Help From My Friends” and then came the extra candle on the cake: Paul McCartney walked on stage to play The Beatles’ classic “Birthday” with Ringo’s band and the “starr” of the night on drums. Read a first-hand report here from a McCartney fan-site and see the YouTube video of the historic performance embedded.

CategoryCulture, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
July 6th, 2010

Ringo at 70: ‘Peace and Love’

by PaulM

Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, England, turned 70 years old today. Interviewed by the New York Times for today’s paper, he said he had one request for those who want to wish him well on this day. He started this little ritual two years ago on his birthday. He asks that people raise their fingers in a peace sign and say “Peace and Love” at 12 noon, whether they are in London, Lowell, or Liberia. Happy birthday, Ringo.

Read the NYT interview with Ringo here, and consider subscribing to the NYT if you appreciate the writing.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | Comment3 Comments »

Tags:
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »