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#AbbeyRoad #paulmccartney #TenaciousD #TheBeatles

Tenacious D Does the “Abbey Road” Medley

Jack Black has lovingly one-upped another giant in Tenacious D’s recent Beatles tribute. The release comes on the heels of a series of viral Instagram videos in which Black challenged Chris Hemsworth for the role of Thor. Black’s joyful shirtless dancing and hammering made many realize what some of us have long known: Jack Black is one of the sexiest men alive.

Tenacious D’s hilarious spin on the bookends of the Abbey Road medley gives more of Black’s signature moves and gestures (which often show off how good he is with his fingers) while musically realizing the truth about the love that’s been there sleeping.

Ram on … (click here for the full CultureSonar article)

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#BettyeLaVette #Blackbirds #TheBeatles

Arising to This Moment: Bettye LaVette’s “Blackbirds”

When Bettye LaVette sings “to be free,” the recent Blues Hall of Fame inductee opens a door and steps into the light.

LaVette’s new album Blackbirds is inspired by the African American women she sees as her musical forerunners. The concluding track, “Blackbird,” the Beatles song she has performed in concert for a decade, crowns the record.

Ram on … (link to CultureSonar article)

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#TheBeatles

Astrid Kirchherr: What She Taught the Beatles

You don’t become hyper-iconic, as biographer Mark Lewisohn dubbed the Beatles, without the right pictures.

But you need someone to see what others haven’t yet. Or, perhaps, you need someone to believe in your worth from the start.

Astrid Kirchherr saw magic in the pre-fame Beatles. Ram on …

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Martha Wash’s “Love and Conflict” – The Album for 2020

For those seeking uplift in this new pandemic world with the old-familiarity of the Stones or the Beatles, Wash’s Love and Conflict is for you—for more reasons than one.

Wash is the iconic voice you’ve known for all these years though you might not even realize it. As one-half of the Weather Girls, Wash sang “It’s Raining Men,” a veritable 80s anthem, ubiquitous in aerobics studios and gay dance clubs. Before that, she and fellow Weather Girl, Izora Rhodes-Armstead, flanked Sylvester James as his backup singers, Two Tons O’ Fun. Ram on …

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#paulmccartney #RingoStarr #TheBeatles

“Photograph” – We Are All Ringo Now (CultureSonar)

“Photograph” can be read as a follow up to the sentiments of “The Long and Winding Road.”

“Every time I see your face / It reminds me of the places we used to go,” Starr begins, concluding the first verse with acceptance of a harsh reality: we can’t get back. There will never be a reunion at “the door” about which McCartney previously sang.

“But all I’ve got is a photograph,” repeats Starr throughout the song.

We are all Ringo now. Ram on …

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#paulmccartney #TheBeatles

The Paul McCartney Song We Need Right Now (CultureSonar)

“We live in hope of deliverance from the darkness that surrounds us,” sings McCartney. As we shelter in place facing an uncertain future, “Hope of Deliverance” is perhaps the most applicable McCartney song for this coronavirus moment. Ram on …

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#TheBeatles

“She’s So Heavy” at 50: From Billy Preston to Blac Rabbit (CultureSonar)

The song that John Lennon correlated to reaching for Yoko Ono in a state of drowning is turning 50, along with the rest of the songs on The Beatles’ Abbey Road. “I Want You” (She’s So Heavy)” is often considered a precursor to metal and prog rock. But “I Want You” has a funky origin that betrays its uncredited black collaborator’s contributions. For the past 50 years, subsequent black artists have covered the song, often picking up on the clues Billy Preston left behind.

Ram on …

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“Old Town Road”’s Pop Outlaws (CultureSonar)

Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” taps into the myth of the American West with promises of overnight fame and fortune that align with our fascination with hits that seem to appear out of nowhere.

“Old Town Road” is one of them, sitting in the Number One Billboard Hot 100 position for eight weeks and counting. The song’s 20-year-old Atlanta-based rapper is conscious about what he says will “entertain,” as he performs the genre-blurring pop hustle perfected by artists like Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson on their duet “Say Say Say.” Ram on … 

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Blac Rabbit: Turning on the Beatles Today (CultureSonar)

An all-black psychedelic rock band from Brooklyn on tour now, Blac Rabbit devotes the second half of their set to the Beatles. These energetic covers, especially later songs like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” are faithful in the best ways—and unfaithful in the best ways, too. Ram on … 

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#TheBeatles

‘Come on to Me’ Is Paul McCartney’s Guide to #MeToo-era Flirting (PopMatters)

Ram on … click here for full article on PopMatters.

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Macca’s Jacca Revelation: More than a Sexy One Off (CultureSonar)

Ram on for full post on CultureSonar.

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“She Loves You”: The Beatles, Girl Culture, and The Ed Sullivan Show (Antenna)

February 9, 1964: a dark-haired girl gazes into the box perched in her family’s kitchen. Paul McCartney’s face, framed in a close-up on that TV set, shines on the screen. The girl doesn’t take her eyes off of him and his mop-topped cohorts while her younger sisters lean forward and smile, equally mesmerized. Their dad, however, looks down with just a hint of disapproval, as the family watches the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show… Ram on …