R.M. Berry on Samuel Beckett's peculiar writing style: "It's as though the narrator's words were almost thoughtless, accidental, written by someone paying no attention to what he or she says." Beckett is best known for his play
Waiting For Godot, in which "nothing happens, twice", but he was also an accomplished writer of prose, ranging from the relatively simple
Three Novels to the extremely minimal
Imagination Dead Imagine. Some of Beckett's more challenging short plays are available on YouTube:
Play (
pt. 2),
Not I (the famous "mouth" play), and
Come and Go, one of the shortest plays in the English language (ranging between 121 and 127 words, depending on translation).
Once he interviewed John Lennon and found out who the eggman really was. Beckett's final creative work was his poem
What Is the Word.
posted by Rory Marinich
on Jun 25, 2011 -
41 comments
The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival was held forty years ago today. Performers included: the Doors, Alice Cooper, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. The highlight for many was the appearance of John Lennon. Lennon was backed by the Plastic Ono Band, then comprised of Eric Clapton,
Klaus Voorman, and
Alan White (w/occasional vocals by Yoko). "We're just gonna do numbers we know because we've never played together before."
D.A. Pennebaker filmed it . YouTube videos of Lennon's set:
Blue Suede Shoes,
Money,
Dizzy Miss Lizzy,
Yer Blues,
Cold Turkey, and
Give Peace a Chance.
[more inside]
posted by marxchivist
on Sep 13, 2009 -
11 comments
Surely one of the most memorable musician photos ever is this one:
Johnny Cash, making his feelings known with customary aplomb. But did you ever notice he was wearing a jumpsuit in that photo, and not his more standard black shirt/trousers ensemble? Well,
that very jumpsuit just went for a handsome $120,000 at auction. Someone else just paid $300,000 for one of Elvis'
peacock-emblazoned jumpsuits. And remember that little
necklace John Lennon wore on the cover of
Two Virgins? Yep, the
only thing he wore. Fetched a cool $528,000. Meanwhile, in Japan, a
bunch of grapes just went for $910. What a bargain!
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 11, 2008 -
21 comments
I Met the Walrus In 1969, 14-year-old Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. This is the whimsically animated film that Jerry has produced about the interview.
posted by milestogo
on Jul 6, 2008 -
26 comments
Lennon and McCartney's Studio Reunion. On March 28, 1974, John Lennon was in a Burbank studio producing Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats" album when Paul McCartney dropped in. The room froze and remained silent until John said, "Valiant Paul McCartney, I presume?" Paul responded: "Sir Jasper Lennon, I presume?" The tension broken, a
jam session [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] ensued featuring Lennon on guitar and vocals, McCartney on drums and vocals, Stevie Wonder on electric piano and vocals, Harry Nilsson on vocals, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar and Bobby Keys on saxophone. A
bootleg of the session has circulated under the title
"A Toot and a Snore in '74".
posted by New Frontier
on Mar 30, 2008 -
25 comments
The Greatest Interviews of the 20th Century according to The Guardian. The interviews are with Princess Diana, John Lennon, Marlon Brando, Dennis Potter, Francis Bacon, Marilyn Monroe, Sex Pistols, Malcolm X, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Margaret Thatcher and Fidel Castro. You know who else is interviewed? That's right, Nixon.
Oh, and there's a Hitler interview, too. Apparently he likes tea. So do I. Funny ol' world. [via Neil Gaiman]
posted by Kattullus
on Sep 20, 2007 -
32 comments
John Lennon's Jukebox (BBC,Google vid,48min)
wiki "In 1989, John Lennon's jukebox surfaced in an auction of Beatles memorabilia at Christie's, and was sold for £2,500 to Bristol-based music promoter John Midwinter. Lennon had apparently bought the jukebox – specifically a Swiss KB Discomatic – in 1965, and filled it with forty singles to take with him on tour. Midwinter spent several years restoring the box and researching the discs catalogued in Lennon's spidery handwriting. When Midwinter developed cancer, and his health began to deteriorate, his desire to see the player featured in some kind of documentary became all the more important."
Guardian article,
music.
posted by vronsky
on Sep 1, 2007 -
61 comments
The Beatles are Bigger than Jesus. It was 41 years ago today, that the Evening Standard published
a Maureen Cleave interview with John Lennon, in which he declared the Beatles
“more popular than Jesus”. Later in July, DATEbook, an American teen mag, printed only the Jesus statement and nothing else from the interview. The firestorm of reaction in the US was immediate. Radio stations nationwide, but particularly in the South and in the Midwest,
banned the playing of Beatles records [Real Audio]. Death threats against all of the Fab Four poured in. In Cleveland, a preacher threatened to excommunicate any member of his congregation who listened to the Beatles, and in the South, the Ku Klux Klan burned the Beatles in effigy and nailed Beatles albums to burning crosses. On August 11, Lennon held a press conference in Chicago, where he apologized,
sort of [Real Audio]. The press conference was on the eve of the Beatles’ last tour of their career. Many say this epsiode, as well as the riots that accompanied their tour of the Philippines (also in July), as well as the accumulated stress of being on top of the world for nearly four years at that point, precipitated
the beginning of the end of the Beatles.
Is it true though? Are the Beatles bigger than Jesus? Though this was unanswerable in 1966, thanks to the magic of the web, we do know the answer today:
according to Google, the answer is no. Still,
other views persist.
posted by psmealey
on Mar 4, 2007 -
71 comments
Happy Xmas (War is over) This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the UK release of John and Yoko's perennial Christmas classic.
A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now.
Happy Xmas
posted by thedailygrowl
on Dec 25, 2002 -
1 comment
The son of a rock god interviews a rock genius... (Scroll down to "Audio") Sean Lennon's 48-minute interview with Brian Wilson covers all aspects of music, from the genesis of a great song, to the competition between artists in the late 1960's. (The interview is in four parts, in RealAudio format.)
posted by greengrl
on Aug 26, 2002 -
15 comments
Steven Lightfoot believes that author Stephen King murdered John Lennon, with the blessings of Ronald Reagan. Mark David Chapman was just an innocent pawn in their evil game. Witness the lengths Steven Lightfoot goes to to prove his theories. Here's
the story that the media doesn't want you to read.
posted by iconomy
on Jun 1, 2002 -
31 comments
Ever wanted to chat with John Lennnon? Now here's your chance! It seems Lennon is alive, well and chatting on the internet.
Technology firm Triumph PC Group has developed a virtual version of the late Beatle using "sophisticated" artificial intelligence programming. As a Lennon fan I was hoping for something cool but left the site with far more questions than answers.
posted by murray_kester
on Oct 19, 2001 -
14 comments
Where were you when you heard that
John Lennon had died, 20 years ago today? I was seven, getting ready for school when the news came over on our old radiogram, and I can remember my mother's white-faced shock: one of those moments that emblazoned itself upon my memory.
posted by holgate
on Dec 8, 2000 -
59 comments
