From Elvis to Hitch to God

I’m scanning through as many episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents as I can before Netflix pulls the series from its Watch Instantly selections tomorrow. Season three includes an installment with Dolores Hart, fresh from appearing with Elvis in Loving You, playing a seductive — and, I infer, pregnant — college coed.

[media id=218 width=512 height=408]

Elvis must have liked Dolores, because she was also in King Creole. What makes Dolores particularly interesting, and unusual, is that at age 25 she left Hollywood and became a nun, which she remains to this day.

The Revolution will not be colorized

If you’re like me, you’ll think this is the most interesting thing you’ve seen today. Full color photographs, not colorized, taken in Russia between 1910-15, by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii.

Hey, wait a sec’… the Library of Congress bought those photographic plates back in ’48?? That was only a year before the Soviets had their first atomic bomb test! Some Commie sympathizer in the LoC wasted American post-war taxpayer money on Russian photos?? I’m outraged!

It was 50 years ago today…

Denro pointed out that Tuesday was the 50th anniversary of the Beatles starting work in Hamburg, Germany. On August 17, 1960, a contract was signed by their agent at the time, Allan Williams, committing the boys to play until October 16. A fire-singed fragment of the contract survives. In the picture above, John Lennon watches the Beatles’ van being loaded onto a ferry in Liverpool, bound for the Netherlands, August 16, 1960.

Recordings about Recording the Beatles

Not too long ago, I posted an item about the fascinating work in electronic music by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The Bob Moog Foundation has an excellent article called MoogHistory Unveiled: Brian Kehew Explores 1965 R.A. Moog Co. Electronic Music Workshop.

Brian Kehew is the co-author with Kevin Ryan of the book RTB: Recording the Beatles. Interviews with Kehew and Ryan about the book can be heard on Musicians Radio

[audio:http://www.musiciansradio.com/podcasts/mrshow_55.mp3 |titles=Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan on Musicians Radio]

… and seen on Electronic Musician.

[flv:http://emusician.com/videos/interviews/Rec_the_Beatles_Interview.flv http://www.dograt.com/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/RTBeatles.jpg 480 360]