Alan Weinkrantz PR Web Log

All You Need Is Love - The "New" Beatles CD

I don't normally review new music releases, but in this case, I am going to because of the importance of the "new" Beatles CD, Love.

Produced by Sir George Martin and his son, Giles, they have collaborated to produce a very unusual, yet effective means of taking what I can best describe as the pallets of the Beatle's music and meld them into a fresh sound. 

Taking a variety of Beatles songs and overlaying them with each other not only intertwines their music, but various styles and periods of the Beatles musical catalog.  A good example of this taking Strawberry Fields Forever from an early John Lennon acoustic demo and transitioning into what I best describe  as a very interesting melding of elements from Hello Goodbye, Baby You're a Rich Man, Penny Lane and Piggies - all from different albums and times.

To date, the BBC, and appropriately other British media such as The Liverpool Post, The Guardian, New Musical Express, TimeOut London, and Uncut have both positive and some mixed reviews.

Regardless of what you think of the approach, the CD is an important and daring recompilation of a musical style  that shaped and influence the world's culture, political views, and many generations.

Their music certainly endures.

Highly Recommended. Best listened to with headphones the first few times.

 

 

The Who Perform "Endless Wire" And Much More at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A.

So then, Keenan, Ethan and I head over to the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. to see The Who  on Saturday night.

So much noise, energy, and life. We joined 20,000 or so other Who fans as we danced, sang, played air guitar and just had plain old fun. 

I’ve seen the Stones, The Who,  Ringo and His All Star Band, and met McCartney serendipitously.  Never saw the Beatles, but my  friend  Kenny saw the Beatles live and in person when they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show.  And  my friend Bob sort backed into Lennon’s car when he was a cab driver in New York.  In fact, the last time I saw The Who was in 1973 at the Charlton Football Club near London- and with Kenny. 

For all you too young to remember this stuff, were not born, or were still in diapers, this was a wonderful time in the history of music, the history of the world, that impacted our culture, our politics and states of mind.  We did not have the Internet, but we had a social media of our own:  we called and wrote each other letters (yes, we used to write letters) to share our Who stories.

I am not here to write a review or try to get into some kind of deep analysis of their new CD, Endless Wire.   Like the Rolling Stones, and even Ray Davies from the Kinks, they just keep going and going and going.  They change.  They evolve.  But they are still just who they are and their legacy and will to continue blows me away. 

If you buy the Endless Wire CD, give it at least 10 listens. 

Then put it away for a day or two. Then listen to it again.   The way I listen to The Who is that I try to focus on Pete’s guitar work.

Make that your lead with everything else in the background.  That’s when you’ll get it.  Or at least, that’s how I get it. 

Buy the CD.  It was on sale at Best Buy for $9.99.  You can certainly buy it off of iTunes, but I recommend buying the CD so you can get the bonus CD and DVD and the lyrics that come with the package.

All in all, a great evening. 

Thank you Keenan and Ethan for inviting me.   

Such a treat and wonderful evening.

Alan Heads to L.A to See The Who at The Hollywood Bowl

Tomorrow I am heading to L.A. to see The Who at the Hollywood Bowl.

I have a wonderful cousin who lives there, and  this is how we do male family bonding stuff. In August we went to see Crosby Stills Nash & Young at at the Bowl.  What a show.

I've seen The Who in the UK and US and even have a real autographed letter from Peter Townshend, who along with Keith Richards are my heros.

Long, long story, but back when I was in college a hundred years ago or so I corresponded with Pete about the idea of writing a thesis based on the lyrics of Quadrophenia.  He turned me down because of scheduling stuff, but he sure liked the idea.

Anyway, what is left of the original band, Pete and Roger have produced a wonderful new CD, Endless Wire; their first in 26 years.  I don't plan to review it because I don't want to.  I just want to enjoy it and not compare it to this album or that one.

Like The Beatles, The Rollings Stones, The Kinks, and Pink Floyd, The Who are enduring bands whose music will outlast, outshine, outsell, outform and out do everything known to rock and what we came to know as The British Invasion.

As a rule, I download and buy my music from iTunes. In this case, I went to Best Buy because it was not only $9.99, but you get a live bonus CD and a bonus DVD from concerts this year.

If you are Who fan, buy it.   And if you are not and want a slice of music history, buy it anyway. 

Any Who fans out there?  Send me an email to: alan at weinkrantz dot com.

Major Vendors Spend Big Bucks on Booths at CES

Companies like Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Pioneer, XM, Samsung, and in the photo below, Intel not only display their new wares at CES, but bring in and showcase industry partners and application providers to show how their just-announced Viiv technology will be used in upcoming new products.

I think Samsung must have had the largest booth of all with over 25,000 square feet of space.  You can read about the Samsung booth at the Engadget blog entry.

PulverRadio Aligns With Rock Legends To Deliver Raw Rock Radio Sound Around The Globe

If you are a fan of rock music and culture, you'll love our client, Pulver.com Radio, Inc.
 

PulverRadio mixes mainstream and independent rock music from the past 50 years in its 24/7 internet webcast, hosts micro-sites and playable, copyright-protected song samples for unsigned bands in its artist directory, allows users to build their own play lists of music and share them with friends, and provides location-based concert listing information for registered users.  PulverRadio also features podcasts of unique, live in-studio performances by up-and-coming artists and encourages artists to contribute their own programming, often inviting them to host their own shows exploring their influences and interests in the rock genre.

Broadcast Legends Help Shape Innovative Programming and Outreach To Emerging Artists

PulverRadio has also aligned with two rock legends to bring a diversity of high-quality music to PulverRadio’s listeners.  Broadcast veterans Shadoe Stevens and David Marsden have signed on to deliver weekly shows reflecting their profound personal experiences in the music industry over the past few decades.  Marsden and Stevens both worked independently to shape the sound of FM radio in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that led to the Modern Rock and Alternative Radio formats, bringing a diversity of music from all over the world to North American airwaves and introduced all of us to entire musical movements such as punk, new wave, alternative, grunge, and heavy metal.

After successfully completing its Beta-testing and early development phase, PulverRadio already boasts more than 10,000 unique monthly listeners and is featuring more than 100 independent recording artists in its Artist Directory.  PulverRadio webcasts its signal on its own globally load-balanced streaming network that distributes CD-quality AAC and MP3 streams via PulverRadio’s easy-to-use web-based player or third-party players like iTunes and WinAmp.  PulverRadio is also pursuing syndication deals with digital radio networks worldwide and will begin offering more pay-per-use services such as music downloads and CD purchases in 2006.

I am now listening to PulverRadio as my mainstay online source for Rock. 

Highly Recommended

Mick, Keith and the Boys Are Coming to San Antonio

The Rolling Stones are coming to San Antonio.

This morning, my daughter, Lauren and I were having breakfast at the Olmos Park Pharmacy with Sheridan Chambers of Denim Group and Lara August of Robot Design Studio where I learned the great news.

My major significant other, Monica Horn Goldfaden,  took me to see them two years ago, and they were incredible.  I have seen them twice before, once in Dallas and once in Ft. Worth. 

And now with the pending release of their new CD, A Bigger Bang, this should be yet another amazing gig.  They play at the SBC Center on March 6, 2006.

I plan to get tickets -  and if anyone out there in the Blogsphere in the San Antonio / Austin region plans to go, and wants to party with our party, email me:  alan@weinkrantz.com

Your Cheat'n Heart: A Vist to the Country Music Hall of Fame

This is a musical mecca weekend.  Today I am in Nashville with my kids, Aaron and Lauren, visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and Studio 3B, once the recording home of popular music titans such as Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Eddy Arnold, and the Everly Brothers.  Tomorrow, we are in Cleveland at the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame.

See tomorrow's post for observations of this incredible weekend.