The Beatles’ White Album – In Need of a Damn Good Whacking?

The Beatles’ White Album – In Need of a Damn Good Whacking?

If you could whittle down The Beatles' double "White Album" to a single-disc LP, which songs would you include (or toss)? Today, this album is considered iconic among fans and critics. Yet, upon its release, many critics considered the songs somewhat mediocre and purposeless. I played this album till it was nearly grooveless, but when it comes to critical analysis, I believe its content could have used "a damn good whacking," to borrow a line from George Harrison's song "Piggies" (a tune I'd cut, by the way).

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She Loves You — The Beatles’ One and Only Swan Song

She Loves You — The Beatles’ One and Only Swan Song

"Swan song" is a term that refers to a final effort or performance. But, when I think of swan song as it relates to The Beatles, their early hit "She Loves You" comes to mind. By September 1963, the band was fast becoming a phenomenon in England, but couldn't manage to grab the attention of a major record label in the U.S. Beatles' manager Brian Epstein finally turned to the small Philadelphia-based Swan Records to release the single that was flying off the shelves in the U.K.

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Two Tales of a City

Two Tales of a City

Anthony Dominick Benedetto - better known as Tony Bennett -- may have been born and raised in Astoria, Queens, but his timeless love song to San Francisco would convince you he'd lived there all his life. Seriously, how could he NOT have left his heart in a place as beautiful as San Francisco? Well, the working-class seaport city of Liverpool, England, may be on the opposite end of the scale when it comes to romantic settings, but four famous rockers left their hearts there, nonetheless. And, like Mr. Bennett, they drew their inspiration from the city they loved. Forty-seven years ago this month, the Beatles released their 24th U.S. single, a double A-side record featuring two songs inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney's childhood memories of Liverpool: "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane."

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How Come Together Came Together

How Come Together Came Together

John Lennon was one spinal cracker, alright. Who else would LSD guru Timothy Leary ask to write a campaign song for his ill-fated gubernatorial run against Ronald Reagan in 1969? Lennon set out to write a song based on Leary's campaign slogan, Come Together, Join the Party. His original lyric began, "Come together right now, don't come tomorrow, don't come alone." Leary felt the words were awkward and the song unusable. Little matter; the aspirations of the PhD psychologist-turned drug advocate would soon come to an end when he was imprisoned for marijuana possession. But by now John had a good title. And he ended up writing one of his edgiest, self-described gobbledygook songs, ever.

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The Queen’s Speech: The Beatles are Turning Awfully Funny, Aren’t They?

The Queen’s Speech: The Beatles are Turning Awfully Funny, Aren’t They?

That was the pronouncement of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the transformation of the Fab Four from the droll, cheeky mop-tops of 1964, to the lysergically induced hipster-gurus of 1967. Rumor has it that the Queen voiced this "turning funny" verdict to Sir Joseph Lockwood, chairman of the Beatles' British record company EMI, at a highbrow Buckingham Palace event that took place at the height of the boys' cosmic journey into all things metaphysical.

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