When The Beatles ' entire catalogue had been remastered in 2009, I penned a three-part review of the box set for No Ripcord.  For the band's 1966 release, Revolver , this is what I had to say : "In a way, Revolver is a bolder album than Pepper was, an experimental hybrid clashing symphonic string arrangements ('Eleanor Rigby'), rock n’ jolly 'Singin’ In The Rain'-styled ditties ('Good Day Sunshine'), kid-friendly sing-alongs about friendly aquatic transports ('Yellow Submarine'), Eastern influences ('Love You To') and the decade’s introduction to psychedelic rock n’ roll ('She Said She Said,' 'Tomorrow Never Knows'). An absolute plethora of influences and styles at work and they marry perfectly onto Revolver with nary a concept at work, nor a marching suit to hide behind.  Revolver is Beatlemania’s actual 'good riddance' and the very reason they couldn’t go on as a touring band. As a continually grow...

Today, the world lost the essential component to the most essential rock group: Photo from The Beatles Rarity . Sir George Martin has passed away at the age of 90.  He was the visionary producer who'd signed The Beatles to Parlophone Records , and acted as the band's chief collaborator, arranger, and producer.  His remarkable ear and brilliance as a composer enabled him to act as The Beatles' guide through their well-documented evolution as artists and songwriters, the vast knowledge and understanding of the studio he possessed critical to the development of what are some of the greatest albums ever recorded.  To him, we owe many, many thanks. Here's a clip of Sir Martin talking about the making of "Strawberry Fields Forever:" As fascinating as he is when describing his process and how he and The Beatles were able to achieve what were, for their time, very innovative feats in sound through experimentation and educated trickery, the work itself re...

So, this should be no surprise.  In the ever diminishing world of popular music, a world whose sole intent to earn capital has left it creatively flaccid (yet continuously lucrative in spite of the crumbling record empire), a Grammy to The Beatles (a Best Historical Album win in honor of their 2009 Stereo and Mono Box Sets ) isn't too shocking.  But, as the less deserving continue to earn accolades, a Beatles' win is a victorious one. When The Beatles' Stereo Box Set was released, I was put to the daunting task of reviewing the set for No Ripcord.  It was a three part series.  If you're interesting, here are the links: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3   Also, just for the sake of revisiting one of the greatest moments in my "career" as a music blogger, some information regarding the Beatles' Love mash up is included in the below press release.  I wrote a review for Love months after its release and, somehow, Giles Martin , son of the one and only George ...

Much as I dislike the Grammys, it’s worth mentioning that All Together Now , a documentary about the making of the Cirque Du Soleil/Beatles show, LOVE , was awarded for “Best Long Form Music Video” ( Adrian Wills , director; Martin Bolduc and Jonathan Clyde , producers). The documentary also focuses on the efforts of George and Giles Martin to reconsider The Beatles’ music for the performance. 2006’s LOVE was the result which was awarded for both “Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Medium” and “Surround Sound Album.” Probably my most starstruck moment as a self-made music critic (“hack” more like it) occurred after I’d reviewed LOVE , as Giles Martin somehow found my write-up and commented . It’s the closest I’ll ever come to my heroes in suits. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

2009 reacquainted the world with The Beatles and your face is now alive from a virtual standpoint, staring back at video game enthusiasts holding faux instruments. To me, technology did you guys a solid this year, cleaning up your legacy in a respectful, albeit digitized, manner. As much as you wanted to forget about The Beatles, the world wants to keep remembering: All those songs, all those albums and all that brain scrambling madness that emerged from those grooves like a riot on a turntable. 29 years after the trigger clicked the mood isn’t so optimistic, no “imagine”-style whimsy aflutter with visions of bed peace or hair peace, peace of ass or peace of meat, here-a-peace, there-a-peace, everywhere a peace-peace. The war isn’t over this Christmas. Maybe you’d be disenchanted with our political climate, but you can take solace knowing that it’s still uncool to like Paul McCartney , even though he doesn’t deserve all the cold shoulders. Cynical times and music won't change...

The History Channel will be premiering a new Beatles documentary entitled, The Beatles On Record , which follows the Fab Four as they evolve in the studio. Having already been broadcast by the BBC earlier this year, it will air on Wednesday, November 25th for U.S. audiences. While the amazing Beatles Anthology docu-series perfectly captured The Beatles from their beginning to the end, a documentary solely devoted to the band in the studio is something I’d love to check out. Inasmuch as the new Beatles reissues better-demonstrate the truth to their sound, this documentary should explain exactly how groundbreaking they were, confirming their fully-integrated importance to the musicscape that’s followed. ©2009 A&E Television Networks. All Rights Reserved. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The Beatles Stereo Box Set Capitol/EMI/Apple Releases: 9.9.09 Part 3: (c) Apple Corps Ltd., 2009 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The Beatles Stereo Box Set Capitol/EMI/Apple Releases: 9.9.09 Part 2: (c) Apple Corps Ltd., 2009 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The Beatles Stereo Box Set Capitol/EMI/Apple Releases: 9.9.09 Part 1: (c) Apple Corps Ltd., 2009 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

To me, September 9th marks what will be the single biggest musical happening this year. As the countdown continues, an excerpt of the mini-documentary about the making of Revolver has been made public, and can be viewed at The Beatles home site. The full documentary will be available with the remastered version of Revolver . I will be penning what might become a feature series about The Beatles' remastered catalogue for No Ripcord , possibly starting around the end of August, or early September. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

For Rock Band enthusiasts, 09.09.09 carries different weight. The Beatles ’ catalogue, the single most celebrated and cherished discography in pop music, (no matter what you think), will be available to butcher with fake instruments on that day. The rest of us can celebrate 09.09.09 because said catalogue is being digitally re-mastered, repackaged and re-released into two different collections: A stereo set with mini-documentaries and a “mono” set of the Beatles’ albums that had initially been mixed as such. As the write-up can explain everything probably better than I can, click here for more information. So, this will replace your 1987 CD mixes. I can only assume that Capitol, who’s already squeezed every drop of blood out of Radiohead ’s past catalogue this year , will be benefiting from the update. It’s interesting to see how extravagant the reissued CD package has grown, fear of the impending move for a digital file-only marketplace demanding high-quality for tangible media...

Earlier this year, I'd learned that Beatles -tribute band, The Fab Faux , ("We're not a COVER band; we're a TRIBUTE band!"), are doing shows based on The White Album . It didn't occur to me, for some reason, that the show might have something to do with the fact that The White Album turns 40 this year. Writing anything about The Beatles more than 40 years after they'd unknowingly cemented themselves a permanent place in every "best of..." list to be conceived by every music-based magazine or cable station is what some would call "needless" or "unnecessary." Countless novels, articles, criticism, documentaries...how many words have been spent repeating the same observations and coming up with same undeniable conclusions? Like the stars? Generations of musicians are born under the unfortunate and futile circumstance of never being able to live up to a band that had its day more than 40 years ago. What must that feel like: T...

It’s difficult to reconsider the classics. Forty years after damaging the pop music paradigm, The Beach Boys ’ Pet Sounds has been dissected, bisected and trisected every which way by musicians and critics alike only so that they could all come to one conclusion: It’s important. Brian Wilson , after hearing The Beatles ’ Rubber Soul , caught a whiff of change and decided that he wanted to do more than sing about surfing. So, while the rest of The Beach Boys were touring, Wilson slaved away at his piano, borrowed some ideas and musicians from Phil Specter (yeah, the weirdo that just got away with murder) and then put his group through hell while getting the notes just right. After the album’s release, it inspired The Beatles to come up with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and thus the 60s REALLY began. Probably more remarkable than the fact that a “teenage”-friendly pop act like The Beach Boys managed to deepen their relevance is that Wilson, then 23, knew how to make a reco...

To whom it may interest, I love mixed tapes. Since my teenage years, I’ve enjoyed many hours at a time figuring out new song sequencing, selecting songs, making cuts and creating themes. Assuming the role of a producer, being someone that will never grace any switchboard or guide any band into creating a masterpiece, is probably its main attraction. For a couple hours, I’m bringing songs together in a format that hadn’t been initially intended, working only on instinct and expressing myself through another’s art. The hardest mixed tape I ever made, was a Beatles tape. On one of my first dates with my future wife, I was employing my brand of “gettin’ ta know ya” questioning. To me, there’ve always been two types of people in the world: You got your Rolling Stones type people, and you got your Beatles type people. Granted, there are exceptions to the rule, but I’d say a good percentage of the people in the world are one or the other. I myself am a Beatles person. I’ve nev...