Sunday September 17, 1967, was my first day at Penn State. I finally got to meet my roommate Dave DeTullio and get settled into room 1008 Pinchot Hall. The first week was orientation week, which meant I got to take some tests to see if I could opt out of certain courses, select my first … Continue reading Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
Sgt. Pepper
Sometime early in the summer of 1967 Leonard Yingst brought the new Beatles album over for me to listen to. I had been following the Beatles ever since they made their American debut on Ed Sullivan’s television show back in 1964, but the only album of theirs that I had ever bought was their first … Continue reading Sgt. Pepper
Got To Get You Into My Life
Perhaps the most joyous song ever penned by The Beatles, “Got To Get You Into My Life” was a “pastiche of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s recent hits for The Supremes” according to Ian MacDonald in Revolution in the Head. Slightly out of his neighbourhood in this idiom, McCartney seems to have had no firm idea of how he wanted … Continue reading Got To Get You Into My Life
We Can Work It Out
Here’s one of the videos that The Beatles made to promote their single “We Can Work It Out”. Clearly they are lip-syncing to the recording with George looking bored and John slyly grinning at the absurdity of it all. And who’s playing the tambourine? Speaking of which. According to Ian MacDonald in his book Revolution … Continue reading We Can Work It Out
Sie Liebt Dich
Probably my favorite of The Beatles’ early songs is “Sie Liebt Dich”, uh, I mean “She Loves You”. Well, actually, it’s one of two songs that the Fab Four re-recorded in German shortly after its release, the other being “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand”. Apparently it was fairly standard practice at the time to record … Continue reading Sie Liebt Dich
The Fab Four Find Philly
During their first tour of the States, The Beatles were scheduled to perform in Philadelphia’s Convention Center (the old one in West Philly) for their screaming fans on September 2, 1964, but a few days before that, two white cops confronted a Black woman. Some things never change. This led to several days of protests. … Continue reading The Fab Four Find Philly