12 March 2018 It is said that a woman haunts, she sees everything. An observer, a writer, a siren of dreams. In my heart and mind, I am always searching for slivers of paradise while being silently pulled towards some sort of freedom I can’t quite describe, but desire all the time. Again and again I find myself in Liverpool, where everything is nothing and exactly as it … [Read more...]
Paul McCartney: The Biography by Philip Norman – Book Review
Paul McCartney: The Life (US) by Philip Norman / Little, Brown and Company / 2016 / 978-0316327961 Paul McCartney: The Biography (UK) / Weidenfeld & Nicolson / 2016 / 978-0297870760 Soufflé-speak. I don’t know if Philip Norman coined that expression himself, but it crops up countless times in his latest book, Paul McCartney: The Biography. It refers to Paul McCartney’s … [Read more...]
She Said She’d Always Been a Dancer: London’s Soho in the 1960s
In late 1966, I arrived in London with little more than a guitar and a change of clothes. The summer of love was just around the corner and, to paraphrase Dylan, there was music in the cafés at night and cultural revolution in the air. Almost immediately I landed a job at W. Paxton, an old established music publisher on Old Compton Street deep in the heart of Soho. To … [Read more...]
Ringo Starr: The Father of Modern Rock Drumming
![By Eva Rinaldi from Sydney, Australia (Ringo Starr and all his band Uploaded by tm) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ringo-detail-360x200.jpg)
Things are looking good for Ringo Starr at the moment. In the last 18 months he's released the album Postcards From Paradise, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, completed a 21-date American tour, is about to begin another in Asia. Despite his accomplishments over the decades, Ringo's drumming has been the subject of much controversy. To some, … [Read more...]
Book Review — Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles’ 1964 Tour That Changed the World
Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles 1964 Tour That Changed the World by Larry Kane Backbeat Books / October 28, 2014 / 978-1480393042 / 272 pages In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' 1964 tour of America, Backbeat Books has republished Larry Kane's insider's view, Ticket to Ride. Just 21 years old, Larry was the only American reporter to accompany the … [Read more...]
The Beatles – Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
Christmas Time (Is Here Again) was written and recorded by The Beatles for their 1967 fan club Christmas record. Ringo also recorded it for his Christmas album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus. Be sure to listen to the end...there's more than just the song! Here's the Beatles! … [Read more...]
Ringo Starr – Come on Christmas, Christmas Come On!
Ringo gets the holidays rockin' with "Come on Christmas," a song from his very fun Christmas album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus which includes both original and traditional songs. … [Read more...]
Review – Reaching Out with No Hands: Reconsidering Yoko Ono by Lisa Carver
Reaching Out with No Hands: Reconsidering Yoko Ono / Lisa Carver / Backbeat Books / 2012 / 978-1617130946 The popular perceptions of Yoko Ono are often unflattering: hanger-on, untalented, unattractive, shrill, remote. Lisa Carver, herself an artist and musician, strips away perception to find the real Yoko. Carver considers the merits of Ono's visual, written, and musical … [Read more...]
Book Review – Love Me Do: Behind the Scenes at the Recording of the Beatles’ First Single
Bill Harry's chronicle of the Beatles road to their first single release may not get any awards for journalistic style, but it is still a fascinating rundown of the lucky breaks, perseverence, and machinations it can take to get even a talented band signed. Harry's e-book is great for the little insider details of how Beatle manager Brian Epstein had to work through others to … [Read more...]
Review – The John Lennon Letters
It's the small artifacts of everyday life which reveal so much about us - the notes, letters, photos, lists, all capture our daily moods and thoughts. Some are intimate; others are mundane, but all have the capacity to shed light on who we are. Collected here are John Lennon's letters, postcards and other ephemera; each pictured with a transcription (in case you can't read … [Read more...]
Music Review – Ringo 2012
Ringo Starr has been on a roll the past several years with the well-reviewed 2010 release Y Not, a successful tour, and now a lively new album titled Ringo 2012. This marks Ringo's 17th solo outing as well as his first self-produced effort, and is an infectious pop-rock project with a good feel and damnably catchy tunes. Ringo 2012 kicks off with a nod to old-school … [Read more...]
Book Review – Bob Dylan and the Beatles by Al Aronowitz
Al Aronowitz is often referred to as "the godfather of rock journalism." But his roots are in the tradition of the writers who trailed behind the Old West's outlaws and revolutionaries, embellishing the truth to delight an eager readership. However, Al was always more a participant than a mere observer, positioned early at the crossroads of one of modern America's defining … [Read more...]
