I know it’s something of a heretical view, but I must be honest: I’m not much of a Beatles fan. I like many of the band’s singles and I freely acknowledge their significance to the history of popular music, but for the most part, I’ve never understood the deep, almost mystical reverence that so many hold for the boys from Liverpool. They just don’t grab me that way. I think it’s even arguable as to whether their music qualifies as “rock and roll”; the later stuff, especially, sounds to my ears more like a descendant of the English music-hall than anything related to the blues.

Still, I like them well enough, and I’m always interested in stories about lost-and-found treasures. Which is all my roundabout way of saying that I was very intrigued this afternoon by the news that some 500 tapes from the 1969 “Get Back” sessions have been recovered:

The tapes recorded [The Beatles] performing more than 200 cover versions of work by the artists who had influenced them: Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. They played their own version of Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind, and Rod Stewart’s Maggie May. They belted out Great Balls of Fire, Hippy Hippy Shake and Lucille in spontaneous bursts of play.

You know that at least some of this stuff will be released on CD — more likely all of it will in a big old collectible box set — and, despite my reservations about the orthodoxy of the band’s greatness, I’d really like to hear Lennon’s take on “Great Balls of Fire…”

I’ve been thinking of how best to present this next find, but words are failing me. Some things simply have to be seen to be believed. And sometimes the words of others just have to stand on their own without further comment:

We at BringBackBritney.com hold firm that a hosed-down, scantily clad Britney Spears is vital to the livelihood of millions of Americans. We will not sit silently as she sullies her persona in the public eye; that of a Kabbalah chasing, non seatbelt wearing, ovary farm for any two-bit backup dancer to take advantage of. This is not the Britney we hold in high regard.

[ADDENDUM: The really interesting thing is that this site seems to be tied in with Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in New York, which, not coincidentally, just debuted a stripper-pole-straddling likeness of Brit — complete with heaving breasts that actually, er, heave. You know, I feel sorry for the girl, I truly do…]

If the Sears Wishbook isn’t enough entertainment for you on this long, sunny Friday afternoon, how about this: the immortal William Shatner performing Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” in the same melodramatic, spoken-word style that has made his rendition of “Rocket Man” such a classic.

[Ed. note: I moved the video player below the fold for the convenience of dial-uppers, and also just to keep the place tidy…]

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[Ed. note: if you haven’t read the previous entry already, please do so now. I’ll wait… finished? Okay, procede.]

It seems this isn’t the first time John Densmore’s refusal to let Doors songs be used to peddle products has gotten some press. I’ve found a piece he wrote on this subject three years ago for The Nation. It’s pretty rambling and positively reeks of aging hippie, but if you’re interested in reading the man’s own words instead of a few cut-lines and a journalist’s interpretation of his opinion, follow the link. Here’s his argument, in a nutshell:

I’m pretty clear that we shouldn’t [sell our songs for commercials]. We don’t need the money. But I get such pressure from one particular bandmate (the one who wears glasses and plays keyboards). [Ed. note: that would be Ray Manzarek.]

 

“Commercials will give us more exposure,” he says. I ask him, “so you’re not for it because of the money?” He says “no,” but his first question is always “how much?” when we get one of these offers, and he always says he’s for it. He never suggests we play Robin Hood, either. If I learned anything from Jim, it’s respect for what we created. I have to pass. Thank God, back in 1965 Jim said we should split everything, and everyone has veto power. Of course, every time I pass, they double the offer!

Once, in what now seems like a previous life, I listened to a lot of music by The Doors. Like many other young men with artistic pretensions and a generally sulky disposition, I was drawn to the dark vibe of the music and the cryptic, existential lyrics of the band’s late frontman, Jim Morrison. I fancied myself a wounded romantic for reasons that shall remain anonymous, and I identified with the band’s well-known songs of alienation and pain, songs like “Riders on the Storm,” “Love Her Madly,” and “People Are Strange.” I bought into the myth of Morrison as a shaman in leather pants, and although I never seriously believed he was still alive, it long amused me to think that he might have faked his death to escape an unsatisfactory life as a rock ‘n’ roll sideshow freak.

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For any Floyd fans who may be lurking among my three loyal readers, my friend Robert sends word that speculation about the band’s Live 8 set list has begun! (Of course it has; this is the Internet, after all…)

If you’d like to join in the fun or just see what other people are hoping to hear, check out the discussion thread at the Pink Floyd forum.

For whatever it’s worth, Robert would like to see the band “do some real esoteric shit like [his] personal favorite, ‘Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict.'”

Hmm. I can’t say I’m familiar with that one…

Well, this is just amazing: Pink Floyd is getting back together for a one-night-only performance at Bob Geldof’s upcoming Live 8 concert. For the record, I don’t especially like Floyd — I mostly find their work pretentious and depressing — but the conflict between the band’s bass player Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour is legendary among rock-music afficianados, and for fans of the band, this news must seem like nothing short of a miracle. As I recall, Geldof pulled off a similarly unlikely reunion of Led Zeppelin for his ’85 LiveAid concerts. If he can perform impossible stunts like getting these notoriously acrimonious musicians back together, why hasn’t this man taken over the world by now? Maybe that’s the next item on his agenda…