21ST CENTURY CHUBBY

THE CHUBBY CHECKER INTERVIEW

Rock 'n roll icon Chubby Checker continues to make history when he brings his tour to Belterra Casino in Florence, Indiana, which is a short drive from Cincinnati. I've interviewed Chubby twice before, in 1999 and 2000, when he was coming to Evansville, Indiana, and I was a writer for a paper there called News4U (which I think is now defunct). I took the occasion of Chubby's coming to my town to reconnect with him and hear what he's thinking about these days.

The last time I interviewed Chubby, he was very emphatic about his legacy, what he calls 'Dancing apart to the beat'. You see, according to Chubby (and his website), 'dancing apart to the beat', where couples dance together without touching, did not exist before he did "The Twist" on "American Bandstand" in 1959. Ergo, everything that followed, from disco to the rave, owes something to Chubby Checker. He makes a good case, but the way he was so emphatic and adamant about it took me by surprise back then. Eight years later, he's mellowed about it...or not. "In the 20th century", he says, "we’ve done things that no ones ever done. Like on this telephone, we’re talking right now. I always call myself the Alexander Graham Bell of the music industry because I gave rock ‘n roll the dance that it never had: The Twist, The Fly, The Pony, The Shake, The Hucklebuck. I mean, all these dances have been going on since I came on the stage on “American Bandstand” in 1959. I went on “American Bandstand” when I was in high school and changed the world right then, right then and there. “The Twist” is the only song to be #1 twice. It’s the biggest song of the Sixties. Think about that. All the British Invasion and all of the Woodstock, “The Twist” was the biggest song of the Sixties. We’re the only people that had five albums, not in the Top 100, we had five albums in the Top 12, all at the same time on the chart…nine double-sided hit songs, first platinum – “Let’s Twist Again”, first Rock ‘n Roll Grammy – “Let’s Twist Again”."

Rattling off his impressive resume is second nature for Chubby, but what really gets him excited is when you ask him about his new single, "Knock Down the Walls." Chubby hasn't had a major label release since 1982's 'The Change Has Come' on MCA, and his last releases, like 2001's instructional 'Sixty Minute Workout', went by mostly unnoticed. But now Chubby Checker has gone digital - "Think about that. “Knock Down the Walls” you can get on iTunes and Amazon.com. That song is Chubby Checker 21st century. It has even no shades of the 20th century. In fact, most performers, your great performers and the most popular people that are making millions of dollars today, can’t even come near that song. That song is 21st century. I don’t think any man or woman that comes from the 20th century can match what we’ve done with “Knock Down the Walls”. And there’s nothing like it. It’s totally…don’t expect to see the Chubby Checker that you knew. All my old fans, I don’t know that they might want to gravitate to this song because it’s so unlike anything that I’ve ever done. In fact, I have a lot of new, young fans, that start at about nine or ten years old to 25 years old, that covet this song, “Knock Down the Walls”. It’s nuts. It’s crazy. I’m getting play on Adult Contemporary. I’m getting played on Top 40. I haven’t been on Top 40 radio since 1965. “Knock Down the Walls” has given me some new territory…familiar territory that I’m familiarizing myself again with Top 40 radio. Some of these disc jockeys weren’t even born when Chubby Checker came around, but they really love this song and the song is getting a lot of airplay."

For all of his talk about hit records, it struck me that his desire to get the song played went beyond fame or profit. I mean, a legend like Chubby Checker can't get any more famous. He really wants to share this song with the world: "Only about 5% of the people have heard this record. We’re struggling getting airplay, but you know something? I think they’ll come around...when they realize that we’re making a statement in the music industry once again with a great new song that the new people that really like it are picking up the phone and asking for “Knock Down the Walls” and the message that “Knock Down the Walls’ has is probably the best message in the music industry today. Not because I did it. I just think God gave it to me and I put it out there."

You can hear the song for yourself on MySpace, download it, or wait for it's release as part of a new 'greatest hits' package: "July 22nd is the official release of “Knock Down the Walls” and what we did – it’s a double-sided CD. One side is the 20th century and the other side is the 21st century." But don't just settle for the music, as Chubby explains:"We have a new t-shirt, called ‘King of the Twist’ t-shirt, and we have a new candy bar, the world’s only checkerboard chocolate candy bar. By September 1st, 10,000 stores will have all these records and t-shirts and candy bars. So, I’m really excited. I’ve got a second chance. It’s just great."

So, if you're heading out to see Chubby, expect to hear his new song and his old favorites, but prepare yourselves: "We're gonna kill 'em. That's what we do. Take out your insurance. We’re coming. That’s what we do. You know the centerpiece of this show is not about me. It’s about the people. They are the centerpiece of this show. They always have been. I play for them. I mean, they are the most important part of what I do. And this is why out of all that we’ve done – we don’t get a lot of airplay, we should; we don’t get the recognition that we deserve; we’ve done more things than most singers have ever done – but what’s kept me in business is what we’re going to be doing at Belterra. That show that we have…nothing can touch it. It’s just so perfect. For some reason, we’ve created perfection when we do our live show. Our live show’s kept us in business all of these years. This has been the pearl of my success – the live show."

I couldn't let Chubby off the line without getting him to say something controversial (unless he already had!), so I turned the conversation to politics and the burning question - has Chubby Checker endorsed a candidate? "A long time ago...and I’m not saying who I did, either. But I’ll tell you something. Something wonderful is happening in America right now. I think that our country is getting ready to look totally different in the face of the entire planet. We’re the greatest country in the world and I think this election is going to prove that we are the greatest country in the world. We’re able to reach out to all the countries in the world and make peace in the whole planet. I really believe that. We’re at a time in our lives right now where America really stands up for something. It’s wonderful."

Chubby Checker and the Wildcats will be appearing May 24th at Belterra Casino, Resort and Spa in Florence, Indiana. For ticket information visit their website. For more Chubby Checker tour dates, visit chubbychecker.com.

MATT'S MUSIC REPORT

Every six months I try to put together a list of recent and upcoming releases and tours.  This is all about music that I'm interested in and hope you are too.  I used to send this out as an e-mail to my disinterested friends and family.  Now I have a blog to foist it on the disinterested public.  It may scare you to learn I've been working on the list in bits and pieces for eight weeks.  Special thanks to fellow blogger Jim Bates for giving me a first look at his two album reviews (at the bottom of this post).

Recent Releases of Note - in for titles in red, a review follows in the last section of the post

• Black Crowes - Warpaint
• Johnny Cash - The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show
• Johnny Cash - Live from Austin, TX [CD/DVD]
• Elvis Costello & the Impostors - Momofuku
• Elvis Costello - This Year's Model [deluxe edition reissue]*
• Bob Dylan - The Dylan Trilogy**
• Bob Dylan - Dylan [3-cd career retrospective]
• Bob Dylan - Dylan [1-cd compilation of 3-cd set]
• Electric Light Orchestra - Platinum***
• Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
• Gary Louris - Vagabonds
• Magnetic Fields - Distortion
• Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
• Willie Nelson - Legends of the Grand Ole Opry
• Willie Nelson - Live from Austin, TX [CD/DVD]
• Willie Nelson - Moment of Forever
• Willie Nelson - One Hell of a Ride [4-cd career box set]
• Randy Newman - Leatherheads [movie soundtrack]
• Frank Sinatra - Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs
• Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Movies
• Mark Stuart - Left of Nashville
• They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s [CD/DVD]
• I'm Not There soundtrack - cover versions of Dylan songs
• Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story soundtrack - many songs written by Dan Bern

Upcoming Releases

• Stacey Earle - Just Along for the Ride [Sept.]
• Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart - Love from Stacey & Mark [May]
• John Hiatt - Same Old Man [5/27]
• Billy Joel - The Stranger [2-cd reissue] [7/8]
• Billy Joel - The Stranger [2-cd/2-dvd box] [7/8]
• Move - 4-cd box set ['08]
• Move - Looking On [reissue w/bonus tracks] ['08]
• Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything [6/3]
• Frank Sinatra - Nothing But the Best [5/19]
• Traveling Wilburys - Volume One [6/3]****
• Traveling Wilburys - Volume Three [6/3]
• Neil Young - Archives ['08] [on Blu-Ray disc only]

On Tour in the Midwest

• Crosby, Stills & Nash - 7/16 - South Bend
• Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart - 6/17 - Bloomington
• Davy Jones - 7/4 - Indianapolis
• Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - 7/15 - Cleveland; 7/18 - Lexington
• Gordon Lightfoot - 9/24 - Cleveland
• Willie Nelson - 8/1 - Louisville
• Tom Petty - 6/22 - Cleveland; 7/3 - Noblesville; 7/8 - Cincinnati
• John Sebastian - 8/9 - Cleveland
• Loudon Wainwright III - 9/27 - Indianapolis
• Weird Al Yankovic - 7/3 - Indianapolis; 7/5 - Merrillville; 7/6 - Toledo
• Weird Al Yankovic - 7/20 - Columbus; 7/21 - Cincinnati

footnotes

*Costello is reissuing his catalog yet again.  The first major overhaul was on the Ryko label in 1993 where bonus tracks were added to each album on a single disc.  In 2002, the entire catalogue was reissued as 2-disc sets, with the original album on 1 disc and a 2^nd disc of bonus material.  This new reissue series on Universal represents a further expansion, with bonus tracks added to the original album on disc one and a complete live concert of the era on disc 2.  I’ve already bought ‘This Year’s Model’ three times, so…thanks, but no thanks.

**Box set of three most recent studio albums – ‘Time Out of Mind’, ‘Love and Theft’, and ‘Modern Times’.

***2-disc reissue of the compilation albums ‘Burning Bright’ and ‘ELO Classics’.  If you only get one ELO compilation, avoid these and buy the excellent ‘All Over the World’ from 2005 or 2-disc ‘Light Years’ from 1997.

****The Traveling Wilburys Collection released last year is split into separate discs, retaining the bonus songs from the box set discs.  

Reviews

Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords

This album is basically a collection of songs from the HBO series “Flight of the Conchords”. I raved about last year’s EP here and I think their series was the best comedy on TV in 2007 (find the DVD ). Packaging the songs outside of the context of the show (using the word “context” in the loosest possible way) lacks a little something. In the show, the songs are married to amusing/interesting video, such as the soft-focus French film pastiche of “Foux du Fafa.” The songs “Robots” and “The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)” worked better on the EP as live cuts. For their next album they should look at recording a club show. My recommendation is to buy the EP and the TV series, and maybe download “Bowie”, the song on the album that works best as a standalone.

ONE HELL OF A RIDE – Willie Nelson

It’s hard to sum up a 50 year (and counting) recording career in 4 discs, especially when the artist being memorialized has been as prolific as Willie Nelson. The red-headed stranger has 92 albums by this collection’s count (an album cover gallery is included in the booklet). So, remarkably this isn’t part of the ongoing plot to get you to buy everything you already have again.

The set is a solid overview of Nelson’s output, including the hits and highlights and choice duets. If anything is given short shrift it’s the more recent material. ‘Across the Borderline’ from 1992 was a creative triumph and a return to crossover success and his highest charting album since 1984 (it was also the album that got me hooked on Willie). It’s represented here with four tracks, while the dozen or so albums to follow garner only eight tracks between them. This is a shame, because rather than rest on legendary laurels, Nelson continues to search and explore the musical landscape. So, if your Willie collection is sporadic (I only have the Liberty set and about half his output since ‘Borderline’) this package doubles as an historical document and a great listen.

Gary Louris - Vagabonds

Gary Louris has created his own kind of gospel, but they are hymns for the desperate corners of life. They’re not just about the drifters and drug abusers, but folks like you and me, some drifting through life. The occasional use of a small choir, which includes Jenny Lewis and album producer Chris Robinson, elevates the emotional timbre, particularly on “She Only Calls Me on Sundays”, where it seems in conflict with the song’s subject. The album at times feels depressing, but the arching message is uplifting, as represented in the snippets of lyrics below and summed up by one song’s title lyric “We’ll get by but we don’t know how.”

Some folks look for saviors

Some for missing pieces

Some for earthly ecstasy

Some they look for Jesus

- “Omaha Nights”

I want to laugh or say a prayer

I never had a cross to bear so beautiful

- “To Die a Happy Man”

Find a way

Feel without a trace

Feel fulfillment in this small corner

- “True Blue”

EXCLUSIVE!!  Two reviews courtesy of A Scale Canadian

Mudcrutch

By Jim Bates

I have no idea what possessed Tom Petty to reunite his early 70s band Mudcrutch, but boy am I thankful that he did. Recorded mostly live in 10 days Mudcrutch’s decades late debut album has an early start as one of the best albums of 2008 and in many ways it adds a new chapter to Tom Petty’s storied career.

To catch you up on the story, Mudcrutch was formed in 1970 in Gainesville, Florida. Moving to California they signed with Shelter Records and recorded a single. In 1975 the band broke up and it appeared they would be best remembered as Tom Petty’s first band. However, here we are in 2008 with a Mudcrutch album. Mudcrutch is Tom Petty on bass and vocals, Mike Campbell on guitar, Randall Marsh on drums, Tom Leadon on guitar and vocals, and Benmont Tench on keyboards and vocals.

This is Tom Petty and company at their most country rock. They seem to have more energy and passion then seen in the last few Petty albums. It sounds like everyone is having fun. Apparently the loose fun breeds success. Standouts include the opening folk cover “Shady Grove,” the first single “Scare Easy”, and the Stills inspired “Bootleg Flyer.” You many not be surprised from the titles that these are story songs. “Crystal River” finds a way to be pretty, psychedelic, and hypnotizing. Petty tends to keep it tight on his records, but in “Crystal River” the band jams and stretches out. “Oh Maria” recalls the Almond Brothers and tells a tender love/stalker story about a drug dealer. “Topanga Cowgirl” makes me want to move to Topanga Canyon right this minute. Benmont gets to take lead vocals on “This Is A Good Street. Hey Ben…that is a good song…you should get to write and sing more often. Clearly the highlight of the album is a rocking cover of the Byrds “Lover of the Bayou.” In fact this album seems Byrds inspired. Not the early Byrds Petty usually references, but the later Sweetheart of the Rodeo and beyond Byrds. The album’s only misstep is a cover of “Six Days on the Road.” Not that it is bad, but the world just doesn’t need another average cover of “Six Days.” Note to rock bands…forget this song…

After the disappointing Highway Companion and a few predictable setlist summer tours, Tom Petty sounds rejuvenated and has crafted the most enjoyable album of 2008 so far. I wonder if we will ever hear from Mudcrutch again?

The Black Crowes - Warpaint

By Jim Bates 

Lets get this out of the way immediately. Warpaint does not reach the rarified plateau of Southern Harmony and Musical Companion or Amorica. Does that mean it is a bad album, or in any way a disappointment? No not at all. It just doesn’t rise to the level of two of the best rock albums of all time. Happy?

Ok, now with that out of the way, we can evaluate Warpaint in and of itself. Warpaint is the first Black Crowes studio album in seven years and the first since the Crowes reunited in 2005. It also marks the introduction of Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars on guitar and Adam MacDougall on keyboards. Produced by Paul Stanley, it clearly represents where the Black Crowes stand in 2008 and it appears the band is very happy with the album. This is an album by a band that has grown up and older. They have weathered many personal and professional storms and are still standing. They may not rock as hard as they used to, but the band appears comfortable in their skin and that shows in this album. It is not a new direction, just a continuation of the jambalaya of influences including the blues, folk and county intermixed with good old-fashioned rock and roll, which has been a staple since Southern Harmony.

The album opens with Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution a mid tempo rocker that is a Black Crowes signature. Chris Robinson spits out lyrics that appear to be almost a challenge to the conformity of American Society. In fact, that may be the theme of the album. We have become complacent in the millennial suburbs with out chain lives. It is time to wake up and fight for our utopia...whatever that may be. Walk Believer Walk is a song that so unifies the Crowes and the blues that it makes you wonder how wasn’t written and recorded for Amorica. Fire, brimstone, and guitars. If you aren’t on the bus, wake up and get off the bus. But then the album settles down with Oh Josephine. This song has been singled out by Chris and Rich Robinson as being one of their favorites on the album. What starts out as a folk ballad soon morphs into a jam and the clearly the lyrics “It's too late to play it safe, so let's let it all ride” have become a mantra of the band. In addition, Chris has never sounded better vocally. That being said, the chorus is slightly clumsy in the Chris Robinson way, and the jam and structure of the song does follow closely to Girl from a Pawnshop. Evergreen is nothing but a silly catchy rock song and it is an excellent example of such. We Who See the Deep is a psychedelic challenge to the non-believers and Locust Street is a beautiful country weeper that Gram Parsons could be proud of. In my opinion Movin' On Down The Line is both the centerpiece of the album and a huge shock. “It's all right, sisters, it's all right, brother, we all get down sometimes.” Life, depression, and the strength to hold on and keep moving. This song smacked me across the face and dared me to pay attention. A huge surprise and by far the strongest song on the album. Next up is an energetic bass drum fueled cover of Reverend Charlie Jackson’s God’s Got It. Sadly, we then reach the album’s only misstep. There's Gold In Them Hills is about finding riches in California...could that be the music business...set to an old west kinda tune. A cool concept, it just doesn’t work as a song. Another gold rush allegory Whoa Mule works. “Whoa mule, whoa mule, we're dirty but we're dreaming, whoa mule, whoa mule, we'll both get there someday” Pretty much that is life now isn’t it? The tune itself is a jaunty folk country song that was recorded outside in upstate New York. A very strong ending to a good album, it is another of my favorites on the album.

While they may never scale the heights of their early 90s success either in a musical or commercial sense, this is a better album then I expected from the Crowes in 2008. They continue to fight for what they believe in and while that makes them quite unique in the 2008 music business, it has been a long-standing trend for the band. Give it a spin with an open mind, you might find that you enjoy it.

P.S.: Hey Maxim, I listened to the album 100 times before writing this review. Thank you, that is all.

OK, MR. BENNY!

My introduction to Jack Benny may have been when Radar did an impression of him on “M*A*S*H”. The episode, ‘Movie Tonight’ from Season 5, originally aired in 1977. I probably saw it then, having to watch what dad or my brothers wanted to watch, or in the reruns as ubiquitous in my own life as they have been on television. Or maybe it was on local public radio station WVXU, which had a daily block of old-time radio shows for many years, and currently carries the syndicated program When Radio Was, but I don’t remember ever making a habit of it.

For awhile there in my early teens, I was interested in a line of old time radio shows on cassette (yes, I've been weird a long,long time). They came on a spinner rack that would turn up in an odd store here or there. One of those I had was a Jack Benny show. Benny's radio show was so popular that his personality quirks became instant laughs when even hinted at. He was notoriously stingy with money, was never older than 39 and fashioned himself a violin virtuoso (all the while playing up the screeches and miscues). Benny's comic legend was in his timing. He turned pausing into an art form, garnering howls for saying nothing.

writing all of this purple prose because a local PBS affiliate here is currently running episodes of his TV series, "The Jack Benny Program" from the mid-1950s as "The Best of the Jack Benny Show". I'm not sure how they're choosing which shows to run. The handful so far have been from 1955. This is about the time he's transitioned fully from his radio show (1932 - 1955) to his television show (1950 - 1965).

I guess I was just thinking about all the people who have no idea who Jack Benny is...and that bothers me. I was heartened by the blog of an apparently young woman who's crazy about Benny's fellow radio/TV pioneers, Fibber McGee & Molly. Here are a couple of examples of his show from YouTube.

First up, Benny disguises himself to win cash from Groucho Marx on "You Bet Your Life"...


next, Benny with series regular (and cartoon voice legend) Mel Blanc.

WATTERSON POST CARTOON #5

AUGUST 27 1980

I guess the ability to search student lockers is common today, but back in 1980 it was controversial. On August 25th, the Cincinnati Public Schools instated a policy that "A school principal or his designee in the pressence of an adult witness may open a locker and confiscate unauthorized, illegal or dangerous items, with or without a student present."

I don't think I could have ever fit my body in my locker, especially not with a girlfriend...but it would have been fun to try!

'RAISING SAND' LIVE IN LOUISVILLE

My birthday present from my wife this year was surprise tickets to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in Louisville at the Palace. I was a big fan of their collaboration, 'Raising Sand' [reviewed here], and didn't even know they were touring. I don't know why they chose to open the tour in Louisville, even adding a second night when the first sold out in 30 minutes, but I'm tickled that they did.

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant certainly gave the impression that they were going to play all of their remarkable album, ‘Raising Sand’, when they opened the show with the album's opener, "Rich Woman". They came pretty darn close, performing all but two of the album's 14 songs, interspersed with 10 or so other choices. The non-album songs were in a way the special meat of the concert, as the T Bone Burnett-led quintet of backing musicians aided Plant and Krauss in delivering studio-perfect takes on their recorded counterparts. That isn't a criticism, mind you. Hearing the songs I love off of the album, like "Killing the Blues" and "Please Read the Letter", was the highlight of the show for me.

The non-album adventures begin apace, with "Leave My Woman Alone" as the second song. Though co-written and originated by Ray Charles, I'm guessing they had the Everly Brothers' version in mind (I had to look it up. I thought it was a Dave Edmunds song). The crowd went craziest for the reworked Led Zeppelin tunes, particularly "Black Dog". A swing at "Black Country Woman" had muscle behind it, with Krauss keeping pace with rocker Plant to blow the audience backwards. It was only in "When the Levee Breaks" that these forays slipped into cacophony, and I would have traded it for "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson", a 'Sand' cut not performed. The truly ascendant moment came when they took on "Down to the River to Pray", which Krauss originally sang on the Burnett-produced 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' soundtrack. Krauss again took lead, with Plant forming a vocal trio with sidemen Buddy Miller and Stuart Duncan.


The performance was also beautifully staged, with Plant or Krauss stepping back with the band or off-stage during the other's solo turns. No egos to be found at all, really, as both stepped aside for T Bone Burnett, who Plant referred to as "the mastermind", to sing a couple of solo songs. I'm not familiar with his solo work, but his voice made me cruelly think "Now I know why he's famous as a producer.". As he sang his first song, though, I noticed he has the same rigid stage presence of Roy Orbison. Then I imagined Roy singing it, and if not for time and tragedy we'd have had a great Orbison song on our hands (no coincidence there, as Burnett produced tracks for Orbison's final two albums).

The opening act was Sharon Little, touring in support of her first record deal and her album coming out May 27th (or "dropping", as the kids say). She has a soulful, bluesy voice that belies her age, and her songs on the link are worth a listen. The best part may have been her genuine giddiness at being part of this tour so early in her career.

It had been over 10 years since I've been to the Louisville Palace. It's one of the few venues where the architecture is as interesting as the music. My wife and I ate across the street at Cunningham's, a venerable Louisville diner. If you like good food and fast service, well, don't eat at Cunningham's. If you want ok food and don't have time to wait at a better restaurant, then it'll do (though I doubt they'll be adopting "It'll do" as their slogan anytime soon).

Ok, what haven't a reviewed...the parking garage? Maybe next time.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

I hate to use links to other stuff as entries on my blog. It's kind of a "cheat" for me, in that I'm not writing anything original (when did you ever write something original?!? say the naysayers (or do they just say "nay"?). But, there's housework to be done, so I'll others do my yammering for me.

Even though they made them during my childhood, I don't remember ever seeing or wanting Kenner's Give-A-Show projector. These flimsy filmstrips shown through a funky flashlight filter had their genus in 1960. But I'll let Jon Knutson explain via his Random Acts of Geekery website.

OK, back now? It's obsessive lists like those and the notion that they fascinate me that give my wife night sweats. Now, on to more geekery (which blogspot is highlighting to tell me it's not a word (p.s. it also highlights "blogspot" (in high school Mr. Graler admonished my over use of parentheticals))). One of my copasetic comic cohorts on the wacky web is DIAL "B" FOR BLOG (an homage to the old DC title/character 'Dial "H" for Hero' about a young boy named Robby Reed who had a rotary phone type gizmo that gave him different superpowers when he dialed different numbers). One of the cool things about looking at old Marvel comic books from the 1960s is the bombastic border-fillers known as house ads. These ads advertised other Marvel comics or products like t-shirts, etc. Robby has compiled pages of these colorful concoctions for your peerless perusal.

Finally, we leave the sphere of the obsessive-compulsive for a video that I remembered fondly and was so excited to find it on YouTube that I've watched it every day for about a week. It's from what I think was the last week of Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show". Mel Brooks was the guest. Carson asked Brooks to tell his 'Cary Grant story'. Brooks was surprised at the request because he told it on his appearance the year before. It's worth the retellling and the repeated viewing...

BEATLE NEWS ROUNDUP

 

'CHAPTer 27', a film about John Lennon's murderer, opens April 4th.  It stars Jared Leto ("My So-Called Life"), Lindsay Lohan (Herbie Fully Loaded) and Judah Friedlander (American Splendor).

NEIL Aspinall, the young Liverpool accountant who left his career behind to become road manager of a fledgling guitar group called the Beatles, died on March 12th at age 66.  Aspinall, in many ways the truest "5th Beatle", was with them from the beginning almost to his own end.  He took over their company, Apple, and shepherded them through four decades, expanding and safeguarding the Beatles brand, from which the members or their estates continue to derive massive wealth.  One of the few Beatle intimates to keep secrets and never write a tell-all.  
When George Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is what his widow, Olivia, had to say of Aspinall (who was in the audience): "If you think of the span of his entire career, there would be so many people who are in this room tonight that he may want to mention, but I’m going to mention one that I’m sure of. And it’s the person in this room that George knew the longest in his life. That he met behind the air raid shelter when he was sneaking off to have a ciggie in school. Someone who looked after him, and all of them, from the time they were thirteen till – for George – the end of his life. And that is the mysterious Neil Aspinall. Thank you Neil for holding it together for all these years, because really, the whole phenomenon might not have happened or stayed together as long as it did without him. He’s helped us, he’s helped his family and George loved him dearly and many of you as well, so thank you very much."

PAUL McCartney's divorce from Heather Mills was finalized by a judge who awarded her $48.7 million of the Beatle's $800 million fortune.  Not so fast, says the former model, who claims Macca is worth twice that amount and has hired accountants to prove it.

FANS are speculating that a track from McCartney's latest album, Memory Almost Full, is about his ex-wife, Heather Mills.  The song's title, "Mister Bellamy", is an anagram of "Mills betray me".  In the song, Mr. Bellamy is on a ledge considering suicide.  McCartney has not made a statement, but previously stated that Mr. Bellamy is not based on an actual person.  He has publicly claimed it's just a coincidence that 'Memory Almost Full' is an anagram of 'for my soultmate LLM' (Linda McCartney).

RINGO Starr has said recently that he is tired of being referred to as an "ex-Beatle" and having the legend of the Fab Four overshadowing his other accomplishments.  In other news, Ringo's current tour set list includes "With a Little Help From My Friends", "Yellow Submarine"

RINGO's 10th All-Star Tour makes its way to the US this summer for 31 dates.  With Starr this time out are Colin Hay (Men at Work), Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart (Average White Band), Edgar Winter, Gary Wright and drummer Gregg Bissonette.

TOM Snyder interviewed three of the Four Fabs, all separately, during their solo years on "The Tomorrow Show" (for those who aren't familiar, this show came on after "Tonight" and before "Today" on NBC). Interviews with John, Paul and Ringo are here (George must have been in the garden). This DVD is actually cheaper from the manufacturer (Shout Factory) then from Amazon.

ONLINe music store Fuego has a 1962 concert tape of the Beatles, supposedly of the first show with Ringo Starr as the drummer, at the Star Club in Hamburg.  Fuego intends to remaster the tape and issue it on CD.  Apple Records is trying to stop Fuego from releasing the show, arguing that the Beatles were under contract with EMI at the time.>

AMERIcan Idol spent two nights celebrating (buchering? mistreating? I don't know, I didn't see it) the music of the Beatles. For those of you who like lists (and I'm one of you) here's what they sang:

NIGHT 1
You Can't Do That
Let It Be
Come Together
I Feel Fine
We Can Work It Out
Eleanor Rigby
I Saw Her Standing There
If I Fell
Eight Days a Week
Across the Universe
In My Life
Got to Get You Into My Life

NIGHT 2
Day Tripper
I've Just Seen a Face
Michelle
Back in the USSR
Blackbird
The Long and Winding Road
Here Comes the Sun
A Day in the Life
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
I Should Have Known Better
Yesterday

p.s. when "Idol" is in it's death throes in a few years, look for "Ringo Night".