Author: DOuG pRATt

Touring became intolerable

It’s safe to assume that any Beatles documentary without Beatles music is unauthorized. Some of them have an interesting clip or two. One of the worst I’ve seen is “Beatles Biggest Secrets.” Don’t bother. A BBC DVD called “Unseen Beatles” is pretty good. The use of Classical music is odd and unnecessary, but the narrative is strong, because it does a good job of explaining why the Beatles had to quit touring. I’ve spliced together a couple of minutes from “Unseen Beatles” about the aftermath in America of Lennon’s infamous Jesus quote.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/DEC/UnseenBeatles.flv 512 384]

The guy telling the story about the show in Memphis is Barry Tashian, of the legendary Boston garage band, The Remains, who were on the Beatles’ final concert tour.

Tashian recounts the summer of ’66 in his excellent book, “Ticket To Ride: The Extraordinary Diary of The Beatles’ Last Tour.” I scanned Tashian’s journal entries for the Memphis show.

There’s a movie about The Remains called “America’s Lost Band” that I hope finds its way to DVD. Here is a preview with related clips.

Let’s finish with “Why Do I Cry,” by the Remains. We’ll never see another time like the mid- to late-60’s, folks!

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/DEC/WhyDoICry.mp3]

Peter’s nut — ow! — buster

To the surprise of many in these recessionary times, this year’s live presentation of Piotr (or Pyotr or Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker by the Boston Ballet is selling out. The other big thing in entertainment going on right now isn’t typical holiday fare, it’s James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Frankly, I’m not fond of computer-generated characters, except the cartoonish varieties, and the previews for “Avatar” looked stupid to me. But it’s been getting good reviews, at least when the 3D projection is done right. And Bismo liked it, so I’m planning to see it in IMAX next week with Eric.

What I have to acknowledge and admire about James Cameron is that his attitude is similar to that of Walt Disney, who was told that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and, later, Disneyland were crazy ideas. Disney’s most far-out movie venture was “Fantasia,” which didn’t turn a profit for 30 years. As Cameron has done with “Avatar,” “Fantasia” in its day pushed every technical boundary there was. Its use of multi-channel surround sound was, to say the least, groundbreaking. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to hear Fantasound exactly as it was originally presented, as explained here…

YouTube doesn’t have a good copy of the Nutcracker Suite from “Fantasia,” so I have done my own transfer, in stereo, with the original, restored Stokowski soundtrack. Walt came up with the idea of using fish for the “Arabian Dance,” which I think is the only sequence that doesn’t work.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/DEC/Fantasia.flv 512 384]

The Decemberists in December

My friend tastewar’s favorite band is The Decemberists. Their site is very intelligently organized and presented, except it could use a favicon. Give it a try.

Stephen Colbert is also a Decemberists fan, although for him it’s perhaps more of a mutual admiration society. The connection started three years ago…

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Green Screen Challenge – Counter Challenge
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Earlier this year, Colbert had The Decemberists on his show to promote their new album, “The Hazards of Love.”

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Decemberists
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

In an era where playlists and homemade compilations rule, I applaud The Decemberists for doing what Green Day did five years ago with “American Idiot” — they’ve put together an album that needs to be heard in its entirety, as a complete work.

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes in Waves
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

At this moment it says the last video is no longer available. Don’t know if this is one of Comedy Central’s usual glitches, or if it’s really been pulled. So let’s go with a substitute…

I love the solo bit that sounds like Grace Slick in The Jefferson Airplane. I’ll use that as a springboard for this delightfully trippy live take of Donovan’s “Fat Angel” by the Airplane.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/DEC/FatAngel.mp3]

Here is Donovan’s original recording of “The Fat Angel.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/DEC/TheFatAngel.mp3]

As Donovan says on his “Sunshine Superman” DVD, that I excerpted here, he was interested in the development of what he called Celtic Rock. Another musical group that comes to mind when listening to The Decemberists, that can be categorized as Celtic Rock, was The Incredible String Band. They did a sort of mini-Rock Opera, like the Who’s “A Quick One,” with their evocative “Darling Belle.” Listening to this, I’m reminded of how much I enjoyed Jethro Tull’s “Thick As A Brick” when I was in high school.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/DEC/DarlingBelle.mp3]

K1 Christmas

Kathleen Aerts, formerly of K3, turns “Somethin’ Stupid” into a Christmas song, of sorts.

K3 fan Theo Hendriks, pictured here, wrote and said that Kathleen is his favorite. Kathleen’s replacement, Josje, is on the left. It’s good to see Kristel Verbeke and Karen Damen looking bright and happy again, because they were so miserable at Kathleen’s farewell performance.

For myself, I’m miffed that Kathleen left the group, but I feel that Kristel and Karen are so strong together they could have carried on just fine as K2. That doesn’t mean Kathleen was any less essential to the success of K3, but it seemed to me that she got tired of the ride. So when she quit the group I was disappointed, but not surprised.

Follow-up: Theo sent another picture of himself, with Kristel. It’s at this link.

Verizon’s knock at att

tastewar reminded me of Verizon’s ad featuring the Island of Misfit Toys. It doesn’t knock the iPhone, just the network that supports it.

I was a Cingular customer when the iPhone was first announced three years ago, and I was surprised when the AT&T brand name prevailed. It’s completely outdated. “American?” No, international. “Telephone?” OK, I guess that still applies. “Telegraph?” Uh, no.

Last spring I switched the family from AT&T to Verizon. My basic Samsung flip phone had been handy for checking e-mail, but it got so slow as to be useless. Obviously, the phone didn’t slow down, the GSM EDGE network had. When I visited the AT&T store at the big local mall it was apparent I was no longer part of a customer demographic they wished to serve. It was 3G or nothing, and I was a voice customer.

The incredible success of the iPhone — my buddy Bismo is a fan — makes AT&T seem like a winner, but its monopoly can’t last. Once Verizon starts rolling out the LTE 4G network that uses the former UHF TV band, I bet you’ll find the next generation of iPhone there, and then AT&T will be in a world of hurt.

Name the girl

I’ve just made an addition over on my Hollywood page. In the intro of the video is this scene…

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/DEC/HelenMack.flv 512 384]

… and I recognized the girl immediately. She made a big impression on me when I first saw her as a wee lad, in the weak sequel to a gigantic old movie. In fact, I’ve been intending to feature this actress, along with another 30’s “B” movie favorite, Jean Rogers, who was in the first two Flash Gordon serials.