Astrid Kirchherr has a new book of photos. Fresh Air with Terry Gross repeats an interview with Astrid from a couple of years ago.
This is my favorite photograph taken by Astrid. I gave five glossy 8×10 prints of it to Prue when I saw her in New York.
Reminder: American Masters on PBS has a documentary about John Lennon’s years in NYC. I guess that’s what makes it American.
Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.
Today, the concrete structure that had been the Washington D.C. Coliseum looks like this…
… but on February 11, 1964, it was the site of the first Beatles concert in America. The show was taped by CBS. Pieces of it are available on YouTube, but as part of Apple’s promotion of the Beatles catalog being available on iTunes, the complete concert can be seen at this link. Here’s a preview. The narrator isn’t credited, but it sounds like the BBC’s Paul Gambaccini.
The technical setup for the show was pitifully primitive, but the excitement and energy were incredible. Just three years later, there would be “Strawberry Fields Forever”.
Note: Denro says at first glance it isn’t obvious the image above isn’t official. This is the original.
My edit was done in five minutes, with Microsoft Paint and XnView, and I think it more accurately describes the significance of the announcement.
I don’t use iTunes, but it seems that the service will finally be offering the Beatles catalog.
Even in these recessionary times, there’s always something to buy! As featured previously here and also here, next week there’s a great new CD coming out, called Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records. It includes a track by Lon and Derrik Van Eaton, and at 5 minutes into this video from Ringo’s 1978 TV special, you’ll see Lon playing fantastic slide guitar on a rockin’ rendition of “Hard Times”. You can hear Ringo say, “All right, Lon!” Thank you, Elaine Staats for pointing this out.
Yes, that’s Carrie Fisher, a year after Star Wars, before cocaine started to wreck her. For me, 1978 was the year after my college graduation, which I didn’t attend. I was working in radio with Cactus Lizzie, and I was broke. I was living in a rented room in a finished basement, and I didn’t have a TV, so I missed the Ringo special, but I remember watching The Rutles with Bismo at his parents’ house.
Something else that’s coming out soon is the DVD of Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?
And Sir Paul’s remastered Band on the Run CD+DVD, is a couple of weeks away.
