“Come with me now, to that secret place, where the eyes of man have never set foot…” The “Magical Mystery Tour,” represents an odd moment in Beatle history as both a film and an album.  As a record, its unintentionally brilliant.  The original British EP just consisted of songs from the hour long movie such as “Fool on the Hill,” “Blue Jay Way,” “I am the Walrus,” and the cool trippy instrumental “Flying.”  That now rare EP has long since been replaced by the full length American issued record.  The LP, not only includes the songs from the movie but also includes all the humungous Beatle singles from 1967 such as “All You Need is Love,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “Penny Lane.”  It makes for a colossal psychedelic album, littered with Beatle masterpieces.  The film, while containing much of this fantastic music, is a different story all together.  Conceived mainly by Paul McCartney as a solution to give the Beatles exposure without the hell of playing to insane live audiences, the film ended up being the Beatles first real commercial and critical disappointment.  So let’s not kid ourselves, the movie sucks.  The plot makes no sense, its poorly edited, (save the musical numbers) includes a ridiculously pointless strip tease, and ends suddenly with little to no explanation.  That being said, the film is a total joy and wonder.  I know, I just massively contradicted myself, but come on, you get to see some of the greatest musical geniuses the world has ever known, running around like mad as a collective unit, at a time when they were at their creative peak. It’s a priceless document of the lads in the era right after the death of their manager Brian Epstein, (the first real death knell of the group according to John Lennon), and just before their incredible spiritual journey to India.  The making of the film became a source of tension for John and George, as Paul basically created and directed most of it.  John and George were becoming increasingly disgruntled with Paul’s emerging group dominance, and resentment grew mightily.  As for the Mystery Tour itself, that too ended up being a disaster as fans found the bus on the road, tailed it, and caused traffic jams.  John angrily tore the “Mystery Tour” graphics off the bus’s side so they could proceed filming on schedule and with more anonymity.  With all the unhappiness present amongst the Beatles, glimmers of joy and goofiness do pierce the film’s dreck.  Ringo is simply a fantastic actor with a lot of heart and humor.  John, decked out in psychedelic lederhosen, has some nice moments with a cute little kid, and George is deliciously weird as fuck throughout the entire film. Paul, who is blamed for a majority of the film’s crappiness as director, does get a stunning spotlight for his “Fool on the Hill” sequence as he dances around the cliffs of France. Anyway, I got the full film, remastered in stunning sound and glorious color, so roll on up for the Mystery Tour, just click play!

“Tell Me Why,” is the greatest black girl group doo-wop song ever.  John wrote it in Paris or New York, presumably influenced by his relationship with his then wife Cynthia, well, at least according to Paul McCartney.  John Lennon was a genius at creating the kind of propulsive and driving rock and roll that was also deliriously joyous.  “Tell Me Why” is like a massive bag of delicious candy in this regard, an unstoppable sugary confection of love, sadness, and exuberance.  The video below is from the “A Hard Day’s Night,” film, an excellent vehicle for the song.  Also, I noticed, YouTube started adding a 3D effect to some of its videos, and this one has it.  I couldn’t get it to work right, but maybe you can, in which case, the Beatles 3 pronged vocal attack will beam right out of your screen and into your face…pretty awesome, no?

I’m not tuned in to every detail of the Wes Anderson universe, but I loved being surprised by them.  I was surprised by how much I loved “Fantastic Mr. Fox” when I saw it, despite thinking for over a year it was probably some horrible 3D childrens movie, (its nothing of the sort, and you should see it if you haven’t.)  I was surprised by how much I loved “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,” a film which I assumed sucked because that’s what everyone was saying at the time of its release.  I waited over 3 years before seeing it, and I thought it was wonderful.  I was surprised at how much I loved “Darjeeling Limited,” a movie I reluctantly watched on my computer one summer day with no intention of sitting through the whole thing, but I did, and I watched it again, the next day.  I was never a Wes Anderson fan, but I guess I’ve been surprised to discover that I love practically everything he’s done; all said love coming with a great degree of anti-hipster reluctance I suppose.  This pattern has now lead me to “Hotel Chevalier,” a 13 minute short film Anderson made with Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman.  The film serves as “Darjeeling Limited’s” prologue, and is essential watching for fans of the latter mentioned full motion picture.  What makes it essential?  Well, nothing of any substance in terms of plot or characterization, but like any good comic book, its good to just continuously inhabit the world of a universe you really love.  “Hotel Chevalier” allows that privilege.  The funny thing about the “Darjeeling Limited” universe, and the one explored further in “Hotel Chevalier,” is that they exist in the grander Wes Anderson universe.  It’s an imaginary and dreamy sort of world, stuffed with the precious sort of nostalgia that is both impossible not to adore, and desire with great jealously.  For those wondering, the song that appears both in the short and in the full picture is “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” by Peter Sarstedt.  It’s easy to see why Anderson would be attracted to that song, as it makes reference to a beautiful girl’s Rolling Stones record collection.  Anyway, I was just as surprised that this short film existed, and having become tired of being surprised by Anderson’s genius, I watched it right away upon hearing about it.  You can too if you’ve never seen it, or rewatch it.  Either way, enjoy.

Part 92 of my youtube countdown tears you into another dimension with the Doors, “Break On Through (To the Other Side).”  This is one of the greatest psychedelic pop singles you’ll ever hear.  It’s got an iconic pulsing keyboard bass intro played by the genius Ray Manzarek, propulsive drumming by John Densmore, stunning pickless riffs by Robby Krieger, and perfect dark lyrics and singing by the immortal Jim Morrison.  This version is actually a special remix featuring the original, “She Gets (high)” lyric that was censored for over 30 years until the 1990s.  The Doors are one of the coolest bands that ever existed for a bunch of reasons.  #1.  The name- In 2011, all amazing rock band names have been taken, and the Doors grabbed that special piece of real-estate all the way back in 1965, bastards.  #2., #3, #4, Manzarek, Densmore, and Krieger-  These 3 were all geniuses of rock and roll.  Manzarek is the greatest psychedelic keyboard player of all time.  Krieger could hold his own with anybody on guitar in the 60s, which says a lot.  Oh, he also wrote “Light My Fire.”  Densmore was a fantastic and exciting drummer who contributed a lot to the bands overall sound.  #5. Jim Morrison-  One of the greatest lead singers of all time.  To me, he is better than all the 70s hard rock bands he inspired, and that includes Led Zepplin’s Robert Plant.  He was an outrageous real rocker with no inhibitions who blazed a comet of artistic unstopability!  One last rock and roll fun fact before I go.  My dad was at the infamous Miami concert when Jim Morrison supposedly pulled his cock out and got himself arrested for indecent exposure.  Well according to my then 19 year old father, Morrison NEVER did it.  He said the cops were on the stage, and he threatened them that he would pull dick out, but he didn’t.  He said the cops just jumped him and dragged him off stage!  Of course we all know what happened next.  Morrison escaped to France to avoid prosecution, and soon died of a heroin overdose in his bathtub at age 27…Seems unfair in light of what really happened, no?  Luckily we have “Break On Through” so Jim can live on.  Enjoy.

Part 21 of my youtube countdown continues with a special Two for Tuesday!  A few weeks ago we saw Chuck Berry rip up “Roll Over Beethoven” on a French TV show in 1958.  It was one of the most iconic moments of all time, and guess what, we’re going back to that very same show for more Berry goodness.  The first vid is Johnny B. Goode, performed with a modified intro solo and sung in a higher key.  Its rollicking.  Next is Maybellene, Chuck’s first hit.  In this performance, Chuck is giving you all his amazing dance moves, PLUS his absolutely killer guitar play.  To me it just looks like he turns his guitar into a piece of rubber, bending it to his demonic rock desires.  It’s just something about the mad look in Chuck’s eyes that makes me feel like that Devil is involved somewhere in making this little moment of awesomeness…Well, anyway, enjoy folks!

Part 9 of my youtube favorites countdown rocks on with Chuck Berry’s legendary 1956 ultra-classic, Roll Over Beethoven.  This clip is like none you’ve ever seen of Chuck.  Here he was on a French TV show in 1958 in his utter prime.  He’s young, happy, and capable of bending his guitar into a piece of rubber.  Check him out around the 1:40 mark where he gives probably the greatest duck walk in rock and roll history.  A stone cold iconic moment miraculously captured for all time.  I love this performance.  He just destroys the track, gives us a bunch of guitar solos which basically invent and end the need for just about 75% of rock and roll.  Also, his speech addressing the French audience at the beginning is so funny and borderline revolutionary the way he asks Beethoven, on behalf of the audience, “to forgive us, roll over, and listen to a little of THIS.”  ROCK AND ROLL!