John Lennon 1940-1980
Today is a very sad and reflective day for a few of us here at cinematixyz. Most of us happen to be huge Beatle fans, especially Lennon, and today is the day we lost him all those years ago. I was in diapers. One of us was a young teenager. One wasn't even born yet. I am not even sure how the fourth member of OUR group feels about him but for at least three of us, it's a day to reflect, make-love, listen to music, and think about all that man gave us in 40 short years on this planet.
I remember on my 27th Birthday I was in Chicago and I thought to myself "My (sweet) Lord, on HIS 27th Birthday, George Harrison had just broken up with the Beatles!!" and I thought of all he had accomplished. On my 30th Birthday, I thought to myself "Not only had every Beatle song been written and the group was over by the time they ALL hit their 30th Birthdays, but John was writing the 'Imagine' Album!!" It bummed me out but then it made me even more in awe of what they all did and in such short measure. I mean, Harrison played Ed Sullivan AND for the Queen before he could legally drink!!
At the age I am NOW, John would have just finished his 'Lost Weekend' in L.A., come back to New York, and was awaiting the Birth of his son Sean, which Yoko had just conceived. All the music he ever wrote, except for his last album and some demos, he had already written, sung, and moved on by the 34 and 1/2. AMAZING when you think about it. It's almost like he knew his time with us was limited so he had to burn his wick from both ends to get the word out. To love one another. To believe in Peace. That music could start a Revolution.
If you are one of our older readers, we would love to hear any stories you might have...A concert you went to.... An event you remember...or where you were when Howard Cosell interrupted Monday Night Football with the news..or for those in other countries, how you got or reacted to the news.
For our younger readers that may not think The Beatles still have any sway or place, or they aren't a band you like, but I GUARANTEE that at least a few of your fave bands site the Beatles as an influence, a favourite, or even a reason they got into music. From hip-hop and Rap artists to Country/Western or Pop, musicians of EVERY genre' always draw their beginnings back to The Beatles. It's been more than 50 years since they broke out. In two months, it will be the 50th anniversary of their monumental first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that got America hooked, and yet they are still relevant today.
They invented so many different tactics and sounds that are used all the time now and most people don't even know they were the first to do those things in the studio. Stuff such as use Feedback in a song, backwards music, sing a song from a third person Point of View, sew three songs into one, or have a 'concept' album. Do you like Pink Floyd? Without "Sargent Pepper", there would be no "The Wall".
Of course, all four of those amazing personalities were needed to make that amazing quilt of musical cohesion and bliss. Paul, the Choleric personality pushing to get things done now, now, now. Ringo the Happy-go-Lucky Sanguine, 'Hey guys, let's not fight, let's just get on with making music' lightheartedness that a band with that much ego so badly NEEDED. George with his passive, deep, zen-like Phlegmatic ways: 'without going out of your door, you can know all things on Earth. Without looking out of your window, you can know the ways of Heaven. The farther one travels, the less one knows...'. And of course, our dear melancholic, working class hero John. Complicated, complex, duplicitous, always telling us not to believe what anybody else says, not even him..but to find your own way. Yet so often, we agreed with him and followed him like the Pied Piper of Peace and Goodwill. Goodbye Sweet John.
Poll John Lennon 1940-1980
Like he sang so prophetically: "You may say I'm a Dreamer, but I'm not the only one...."
Z.
You can go here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/12999.html#comments for Xim's review of Help!
Magical Mystery Tour was reviewed by Xim here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/11/23/
Here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/07/10/ for a Review of Yellow Submarine.
Xim also Reviewed "George Harrison: Living in a Material World"- http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/18810.html#comments.
I enjoyed his review so much that he sent me a copy of the Martin Scorsese Documentary and I did my own review for it here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/08/12/ (Luckily it's the first one of a group of Five...and the Last One is about Stuart Sutcliffe and his Time Early in the Beatles)
To see how The Beatles beat out all other bands in a Poll last year, you can go see for yourself here:
http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/10/06/
Soon, we will need to add reviews for the AMAZING "Backbeat" and also the other two Beatle films missing from this list... The last (Let It Be) and the first (A Hard Day's Night). The latter gave birth to the music video and is what Roger Ebert called "The Citizen Kane of Jukebox Musicals". I am sure we will get on those and others in 2014. =)
Peace, <3, and Art!!
I remember on my 27th Birthday I was in Chicago and I thought to myself "My (sweet) Lord, on HIS 27th Birthday, George Harrison had just broken up with the Beatles!!" and I thought of all he had accomplished. On my 30th Birthday, I thought to myself "Not only had every Beatle song been written and the group was over by the time they ALL hit their 30th Birthdays, but John was writing the 'Imagine' Album!!" It bummed me out but then it made me even more in awe of what they all did and in such short measure. I mean, Harrison played Ed Sullivan AND for the Queen before he could legally drink!!
At the age I am NOW, John would have just finished his 'Lost Weekend' in L.A., come back to New York, and was awaiting the Birth of his son Sean, which Yoko had just conceived. All the music he ever wrote, except for his last album and some demos, he had already written, sung, and moved on by the 34 and 1/2. AMAZING when you think about it. It's almost like he knew his time with us was limited so he had to burn his wick from both ends to get the word out. To love one another. To believe in Peace. That music could start a Revolution.
If you are one of our older readers, we would love to hear any stories you might have...A concert you went to.... An event you remember...or where you were when Howard Cosell interrupted Monday Night Football with the news..or for those in other countries, how you got or reacted to the news.
For our younger readers that may not think The Beatles still have any sway or place, or they aren't a band you like, but I GUARANTEE that at least a few of your fave bands site the Beatles as an influence, a favourite, or even a reason they got into music. From hip-hop and Rap artists to Country/Western or Pop, musicians of EVERY genre' always draw their beginnings back to The Beatles. It's been more than 50 years since they broke out. In two months, it will be the 50th anniversary of their monumental first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that got America hooked, and yet they are still relevant today.
They invented so many different tactics and sounds that are used all the time now and most people don't even know they were the first to do those things in the studio. Stuff such as use Feedback in a song, backwards music, sing a song from a third person Point of View, sew three songs into one, or have a 'concept' album. Do you like Pink Floyd? Without "Sargent Pepper", there would be no "The Wall".
Of course, all four of those amazing personalities were needed to make that amazing quilt of musical cohesion and bliss. Paul, the Choleric personality pushing to get things done now, now, now. Ringo the Happy-go-Lucky Sanguine, 'Hey guys, let's not fight, let's just get on with making music' lightheartedness that a band with that much ego so badly NEEDED. George with his passive, deep, zen-like Phlegmatic ways: 'without going out of your door, you can know all things on Earth. Without looking out of your window, you can know the ways of Heaven. The farther one travels, the less one knows...'. And of course, our dear melancholic, working class hero John. Complicated, complex, duplicitous, always telling us not to believe what anybody else says, not even him..but to find your own way. Yet so often, we agreed with him and followed him like the Pied Piper of Peace and Goodwill. Goodbye Sweet John.
Poll John Lennon 1940-1980
Like he sang so prophetically: "You may say I'm a Dreamer, but I'm not the only one...."
Z.
You can go here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/12999.html#comments for Xim's review of Help!
Magical Mystery Tour was reviewed by Xim here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/11/23/
Here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/07/10/ for a Review of Yellow Submarine.
Xim also Reviewed "George Harrison: Living in a Material World"- http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/18810.html#comments.
I enjoyed his review so much that he sent me a copy of the Martin Scorsese Documentary and I did my own review for it here: http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/08/12/ (Luckily it's the first one of a group of Five...and the Last One is about Stuart Sutcliffe and his Time Early in the Beatles)
To see how The Beatles beat out all other bands in a Poll last year, you can go see for yourself here:
http://cinematixyz.livejournal.com/2012/10/06/
Soon, we will need to add reviews for the AMAZING "Backbeat" and also the other two Beatle films missing from this list... The last (Let It Be) and the first (A Hard Day's Night). The latter gave birth to the music video and is what Roger Ebert called "The Citizen Kane of Jukebox Musicals". I am sure we will get on those and others in 2014. =)
Peace, <3, and Art!!