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March 6, 2010 · 9:33 am

Review: Larry Kane’s ‘Ticket to Ride’ Lecture

Last night, I attended the first of night of Larry Kane‘s “Ticket to Ride” lecture at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Larry will be giving these presentations every Friday and Saturday throughout March 2010. Note: I’d say the theater was about 3/4 full for this opening night performance.

A little background: I had seen Larry talk during his 2005 book tour for “Lennon Revealed” his second book about The Beatles. Though I never read his first book, “Ticket to Ride”, I anxiously dove into the new one. Back to the present: So when I ordered my $35 ticket to this new 2010 show of his, I had to wonder what he had left to say about his time with the Fab Four.

I must admit I was pleasantly surprised! This show was very well done. It opens with a 20 minute video introduction that did make me wonder how much actual talking Larry would do, but once Larry came out after Denny Somach’s introduction, he broke into stories about The Beatles that had still remained untold. The show was produced beautifully and the mix of concert footage and interviews with Larry’s story telling was very well balanced. Larry’s amazing and sometimes shocking stories of his time traveling and interviewing John, Paul, George and Ringo will either make your jaw drop or make you howl with laughter.

After 1 hour 45 mins., Larry was happy to take questions from the audience. And despite Denny Somach’s insistence that Larry wrap it up for the night, Larry was gracious enough to keep saying, “I’ll take one more question”. He honestly loves The Beatles and loves talking about him.

The show was not without its problems. There was a moment when Larry’s outlined lecture was not inline with the cued video, but honestly, this just brought a giggle from the audience and was completely forgivable for an opening night. Larry also bumped his mic several times which can also be dismissed as an opening night faux pas.

Larry Kane is currently working on his 3rd book to be called, “When They Were Boys”. He told me it won’t be published for a couple years, but I know I’m already looking forward to it.

If you are in the Philadelphia/NJ/NY area and can get to Larry Kane’s ‘Ticket to Ride’ show this month, it will be well worth the price of the ticket! For more information, go to www.LarryKane.com or www.FI.edu.

Rating: 4 out of 4 Beetles

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Tagged as beatles, beatles books., beatles tributes, books, Larry Kane, ticket to ride

January 31, 2010 · 8:09 am

An Intro to Beatles-Freak’s reviews

Good Morning, Good Morning…

I know what you’re all asking yourselves. “Why? Why are you reviewing pseudo and faux Beatles?”.

That’s a very good question…and believe you me, I’m still asking myself the same question, “Why am I doing this?!”

The best explanation I can give is this: The Beatles, whether solo or a group, whether presently or in the past, have been reviewed to death! Those poor boys couldn’t take a shite without someone telling us all what it looked and smelled like. I really don’t think anyone, including myself, wants another Beatles review blogger. If you love the Beatles or are a collector, then you already listen to and buy everything they’ve made, recorded or created. You don’t need me to tell you whether it’s good or not.

Now some Beatles fans are purists. These are the folks that don’t want to hear remakes or tribute bands performing covers of the songs they love. In fact, my father-in-law has this same attitude about U.S. national anthem. It is to be performed exactly as it was written with no room for artistic license. And god help the popstar that performs the anthem at a major sporting event should they try to get creative. And I can respect the opinion of the Beatles purists, but it’s not going to stop people from performing their songs. Why? Well, from what I’ve heard from many musicians is that the Lennon/McCartney catalog is “fun”. Just like we listeners are drawn to the Fab Four’s sound, musicians are drawn to playing their songs.

I’m also not a real fan of the people who have worked with, slept with and done business with the Beatles that have all decided that they need to cash in by writing books. My dislike for this behavior is almost personal – it’s all TMI (too much information) for me. It’s the music that turns me on, not every little detail of their lives. And whether it’s the Beatles or sports, I get a bad taste in my mouth when I encounter so-called “experts” and they want to show off their absolute-no-one-knows-more-than-me knowledge of a topic.

This brings me back to the big question – “Why are you doing this?!” Because if there must be authors and musicians who are going to try to cash in on The Beatles, then I want to try to help others separate the ‘real’ from the ‘hacks’.

“And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make.”

I hope you enjoy my reviews.