December 21, 2015 · 8:29 am

Book Review: “Beatles vs. Stones” by John McMillian

 Beatles vs. Stones by John McMillian was published in 2013, but I just saw it for the first time a couple weeks ago on the shelf at Barnes & Noble.  As I said previously, I rarely pay full price for any of the books I review, so when I went looking for a used copy online, I discovered that there had been another earlier book written on this same topic.  I reviewed that book, The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones, last week.  The difference between the two is amazing!

This book is actually a very enjoyable read and I learned a lot about the relationship between John & Paul and Mick & Keith.  They were all actually very good friends from the very start and John and Paul actually wrote the second song The Rolling Stones recorded!  That’s something that I didn’t read in last week’s book… a book that now appears like it was just a pissing contest between the co-authors to see who knew more about the two bands and their albums.

As for my opinion on this topic, both books start out early saying there was no rivalry between the two highly successful British invasion bands.  So why the books?  Because just like the press has always done, they created a rivalry that never really existed.

The book that I think really needs to be written (and maybe it has and I just haven’t found it yet) is The Beatles vs. The Beach Boys.  Those were two bands that used to analyze and look at the dynamics of each others songs and try to outdo each other.  It wasn’t just a pissing contest for first place on the record charts…it was who could write the better song and produce a better album!

Still this is a great book to learn about the relationship and friendship between two of the greatest bands the world has every known.  And for that reason…

I rate this book, 3 out of 4 Beetles!

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You can get a copy of this book at Half.com for about $0.75

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December 15, 2015 · 10:43 am

Beatles Freak Reviews 100th Blog Post Contest!

Last day to enter…

Beatles Freak Reviews's avatarBeatles-Freak's Reviews

Hello all my fellow Beatles Freak and welcome to my 100th blog post!

In celebration of this occasion, I’d like to offer my new and old followers two opportunities to win $10 Amazon gift cards to buy yourself some Beatle-ly books, music or movies.

Here’s how this contest will work: Everyone that is currently subscribed to Beatles Freak Reviews’ blog is already entered, but anyone who signs up for email alerts between today (December 1, 2015) and December 15, 2015 will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card.  The drawing will be held on January 1, 2016.

But that’s not all!  Anyone subscribing to this blog during the month of December 2015, will be eligible to win a second $10 Amazon gift card, the drawing for which will be held on February 1, 2016.

Rules:

  1. You must subscribe via the subscription box in the top right corner of this site.
  2. Once…

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December 13, 2015 · 3:40 pm

Book Review: “The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones” by Jim DeRogatis & Greg Kot


I found The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Rivalry  while looking online for another book I had seen in a bookstore about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I rarely will pay retail for any book I read for Beatles Freak Reviews since this site makes no money (it’s just a hobby), so I was slumming the virtual used book sites. When I saw this book, I guess I wondered why the world needed two books on such a non-topic and decided to pick up at $2 used copy.

This book is filled with some great pictures.  And if you were to purchase it for no other reason than to use it as a coffee table book, it would serve its purpose well. But as for content, it’s pretty much just two guys comparing their own personal opinions on which band, and their guitarists, bassists, drummers, drug usage and double albums are better. The authors even take on the topic of which band had the most publicized drug bust! I really don’t think either band was trying to top each other in that instance (but I’ve been wrong about these things before).

Personally, I don’t think there ever was a rivalry between these two bands, but that’s a topic I’ll hit on next week when I review the other Beatles vs. Stones book I bought with this one. And to leave room for next week’s book to suck even more than this one…

I rate this book, 2 out of 4 Beetles!

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If you’re interested in adding this book to your collection,used copies can be had for less than $2 on Half.com.

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December 6, 2015 · 10:11 am

Review: The Beatles – Ticket to Rider

Ticket to RiderWP_20151205_002[1]Yesterday, my husband and I had the pleasure of attending Rider University’s first ever Beatles conference – Ticket to Rider. The host of the event was Dr. Stephen Allen, a music professor at Rider University. This 5 hour event was held in the Bart Luedeke Center and included both speakers and a concert.

 

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Dr. Kenneth Womack, a professor at Monmouth University and the author of several books about The Beatles opened the conference with his lecture ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles’. I believe this is my third or fourth time seeing Ken give this talk and it probably won’t be my last. Each time he changes it just a little and adds something new to the mix.

Victoria DeLena, a student of Popular Music Studies at Rider, gave an excellent speech titled, ‘From Me to You: Through sound and emotion.’ She compare the today’s pop music to that of the Beatles and was able to show the similarities and influence the Beatles had on such contemporary bands such as Tame Impala.

Alan LeBouf talked about his life as an international Paul McCartney impersonator in such productions as Beatlemania, Liverpool Legends and All You Need is Love…to name a few.

Dr. Stephen Allen was the last to speak. His talk, ‘Concerning the Curious Case of Mr. John Lennon’ presented some very interesting and new theories about the connection between Lennon’s lyrics and his relationship to his mother.

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After a dinner break, the second half of the event was filled with the musical talents of The Princeton Brass Band (led by Dr. Allen) and the musical talents of Alan LeBouf. Combined, they had the audience singing, swaying and laughing along with the music.

A great time was had by all…and I hope they do it again next year!

 

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December 4, 2015 · 1:23 pm

Book Review: “Beatlebone” by Kevin Barry


I started seeing mentions of Beatlebone by Kevin Barry on social media about 2 weeks ago. Couldn’t help but notice that major newspapers such at the New York Times were reviewing this book, so I decided to take a quick look see to find out what it was about. I don’t read other reviews of books before I review them…I don’t want to go into it tainted. But once I found out that it was a novel with John Lennon as it’s central character, I decided I needed to read it.

Within three days I was ranting to my husband about how wonderful this book is. The writing is in a style that I’ve never read before now. Conversations are without quotation marks, yet you feel as if you’re there with John and Cornelius as they try to get John to his island in Ireland. There’s darkness, then light. Darkness, then light.

Then…Part Six happens! What the f*ck, Kevin Barry and Doubleday?! Just when I was loving the story, Barry’s writing style, the cave, the hotel, the birds, the rabbits, the elf and the wolf…they dump Part Six in there. Seriously, folks? Why? I wanted so bad to give this book my best rating.

Go out and get this book, but when you get to Part Six, skip over it and then go back and read it at the end. Either that, or read it before you start the book. And for that reason…

I rate this book, 3 out of 4 Beetles!

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December 1, 2015 · 11:30 am

Beatles Freak Reviews 100th Blog Post Contest!

Hello all my fellow Beatles Freak and welcome to my 100th blog post!

In celebration of this occasion, I’d like to offer my new and old followers two opportunities to win $10 Amazon gift cards to buy yourself some Beatle-ly books, music or movies.

Here’s how this contest will work: Everyone that is currently subscribed to Beatles Freak Reviews’ blog is already entered, but anyone who signs up for email alerts between today (December 1, 2015) and December 15, 2015 will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card.  The drawing will be held on January 1, 2016.

But that’s not all!  Anyone subscribing to this blog during the month of December 2015, will be eligible to win a second $10 Amazon gift card, the drawing for which will be held on February 1, 2016.

Rules:

  1. You must subscribe via the subscription box in the top right corner of this site.
  2. Once signed up, you must be a continued subscriber until the day of the drawing.
  3. The winners will be announced in a blog on this site and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.  After 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn and announced on this site. This process will be repeated as many times as necessary.

Best of luck and thank you all for your loyalty!

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November 29, 2015 · 9:31 am

Song & Video Review: “What’s It Like in Liverpool?” by Marc Kenny

Early this week, I was doing my usually daily stroll around my social media accounts when I saw someone had posted this video.  “What’s It Like in Liverpool?” is a song by native Liverpudlian Marc Kenny.

The song is catchy and fun.  The video is bright and lively with scenic shots of Liverpool and the Cavern Club.  So what’s my gripe?  I have to wonder if this song is just another attempt to capitalize on the proud home of the Fab Four?  Kenny’s biography says he’s been reading and writing music since the age of 9 and that while other kids at school were learning classical pieces, his parents bought him the Beatles music book.  I can’t argue with that, I did the same for my son.  But why write a song about Liverpool with lines from Beatles’ songs in it and with a video filled with Beatles related images from around the city?  If someone is so talented (and you only have to read Marc’s long bio to know how talented he claims to be), why resort to capitalizing on the greatest band in the world to become famous?

Then again, I have to wonder whether maybe I’m the only one that is even having these thoughts, since the video currently has over 4,000 viewings and according to Facebook, it’s been shared over 6,000 times.

Well, I do have to admit…I’ve hit the play button at least a half dozen times myself.  The song is very good, the video is also well done, and yes, Marc Kenny has got talent.  And for that reason…

I rate this song and video, 3 out of 4 Beetles!

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You can buy a copy of What’s It Like in Liverpool? on Amazon.com for $0.89 if you’d like to support Marc Kenny.  Or you can buy the studio and live versions, plus one other song here for $2.67.

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November 22, 2015 · 7:00 am

Book Review: “Confessions of a Teenage Disc Jockey” by T. Morgan

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For those music and radio fans who have lived in the Philadelphia region, the name T Morgan is a household name. And his new book, Confessions of a Teenage Disc Jockey, is not only the story of his life in radio (that has now spanned five decades), it is also a history lesson in the evolution of radio broadcasting.

T takes the readers from the early days of rock n roll on AM radio in the mid-sixties, when he could listen to radio stations up and down the east coast from his family’s home in Scranton, through the 1970’s album based radio that was growing on FM, and then right up to the present day. Along the way, he tells the highs and lows of being a disc jockey without ever sounding arrogant or pretentious.  Instead, T tells his story while remaining humble and grateful for the opportunities that were given to him.

There is brief mention of the Beatles influence on radio in the 60’s and of T Morgan’s missed opportunity at meeting Paul McCartney, along with so many other entertaining tales of meeting an amazing list of rock stars and celebrities during his time as a disc jockey.

If you’re a radio fan who owned a transistor radio way back when, or a rock ‘n’ roll enthusiast, you’re going to love this book.  I will admit that it started out a little rough in the beginning (it is self-published), but I think Mr. Morgan eventually finds his true written voice and will pull you in.  And for that reason…

I rate the book, 3 out of 4 Beetles!

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November 20, 2015 · 11:33 am

Movie Review: Brian Wilson – Songwriter: 1969-1982

Here’s another shameless plug for the 30 day free Amazon Prime trial subscription.  When I went to cancel before my month was up, then informed me that I could continue to use the free benefits until my 30 days was over!  So…I watch another free movie.

Brian Wilson – Songwriter: 1969-1982 was a hell of a lot better than I had expected.  This documentary was a great way to fill in the blanks that were left from watching “Love & Mercy“.  As I said in my review, Love & Mercy was an excellent film, but you really had to know exactly what was going on with Brian in the 1960’s thru 1980’s to understand the movie completely.  This film is going to give you those missing links.

And for that reason…

 

I rate this movie, 4 out of 4 Beetles!

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Note: And keep an eye out for May Pang’s book, Loving John, on Peter Ames Carlin’s bookshelf!

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November 15, 2015 · 7:34 am

Book Review: “Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink” by Elvis Costello

Well folks, here it is…the book that took me way to long to read!

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink is a 670 page memoir from Elvis Costello.  Written in his poetic hand with a lot of discussion and samples of the lyrics to his songs, you’re going to wish this book came with a soundtrack to follow along with the stories.  It’s not that I don’t know Elvis’ music, but being more of the pop music fan, I’ve never felt the need to listen to any of  his entire albums.  Maybe it’s my own fault then that I had trouble keeping up.

But there are other problems too.  Mr. Costello loves to tell you of his family history, just not in one or two neat and tidy chapters.  He likes to digress throughout the book, never letting his reader know at any given moment what decade they may end up in whether it be with his great grandparents or parents or someplace else in time.  I could almost swear that several times, he flashed back and never came back to the original story he had started telling.

Still, some the stories he tells of the artists he’s worked with are truly amazing.  He sings the praises of working with Johnny and June Cash, Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint and so many others.  (Note: Oddly, I got to the part about his working with Allen Toussaint the day after Allen passed away.  Cue Twilight Zone music.)  Elvis worships his father and tells the heartbreaking story of his passing within days of the untimely death of his wife (Elvis’ stepmother).  And yes, he talks about working with Paul McCartney, but I was surprised that it wasn’t with as much gusto as I would have expected.

Unless you’re an over the top Elvis Costello fan that has followed his every move from the very beginning of his career, don’t plan on this being a fast read.  Sit back and just enjoy the storytelling.  And for that reason…

I rate this book, 3 out of 4 Beetles!

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