Willie Simpson

Category: The Beatles

  • The Beatles, Words Of Love

    I had a dream the other night (no, please keep reading) where the Beatles were reunited in the 1980s and John Lennon was still alive. It was an incredibly visceral dream with the four guys aged perfectly for the time. They were recording a track in the studio. John was decked out in a red…

  • George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Sitar Lesson and Within You Without You

    EDIT: Ravi Shankar died yesterday, Tuesday, December 12, 2012, at the age of 92 in Southern California. RIP you beautiful man; legend of music, Beatle guru, sitar master. Orignally Published May 5, 2011- Part 56 is a double dose adventure of Indian/English fun.  First we have an awesome rare clip of George Harrison in India taking…

  • Making More Rock And Roll, Deconstructing Sgt. Pepper

    Well, I haven’t updated the ole’ website in a good while, and the reason is because I’m still making more rock and roll. The intention of this humble little corner of internet space was never to be a daily rock and roll blog, that happened more or less organically. The site was created to feature…

  • The Beatles, Help! The Entire Film, in HD!

    One of the coolest evolutions in YouTube history was the removal of the oppressive 10 minute time limit for video clips.  Such advancements have led to the wonder of allowing the Beatles movie “Help!” to be seen and shared in its entirety, for free!  Now “Help!” is probably the least essential Beatle movie, even more…

  • Prince's Timeless Performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Prince is one of my heroes, so you might be wondering why the Prince page on my website is fairly barren.  Well, the truth is, I’d probably have every Prince music video and performance I could get my hands on if I could, but Prince and his legal team make it damn near impossible to…

  • Mad Men, The Eleanor Rigby Experiment

    One of the most exciting elements of the latest season of Mad Men was how the series creator, Matthew Weiner, somehow scored the rights to broadcast an actual Beatles song on his show.  The Beatles had never allowed their actual recordings to be directly featured in a television show, and have rarely allowed the privilege…

  • The Beatles, If I Needed Someone

    “If I Needed Someone” written by George Harrison in 1965, is one of my all time favorite songs.  George was listening to the Byrds, especially Roger McGuinn’s “The Bells of Rhymeny,” which George based his guitar riff on.  Like all great artists, the Beatles stole from other great artists, but what was special about them…

  • The Beatles, I'm in Love, Ultra Rare Song

    Well, its been a few weeks since I’ve updated the website.  Mainly I’ve been busy working on my next creative endeavor, covering the song I’m posting today.  Its the dream of many a Beatle fan/musician to do their own version of a famed Beatle or solo Beatle song.  I’ve toyed with this dream for years,…

  • The Beatles, A Look Inside the Recording of Think For Yourself

    You’d think by reading this website, that I’ve probably heard everything the Beatles have ever done.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The Beatles left a treasure trove of outtakes, missing songs, and precious studio banter; all serving as glorious honey for Beatle fans starving for fresh material.  Last night, I stumbled upon the…

  • Yellow Submarine Week, It's All Too Much, All Together Now

    A wise Beatle once said, all things must pass, and so must Yellow Submarine week.  The end of the movie, one of my favorite sequences, features the stunning George Harrison masterpiece, “It’s All Too Much.”  Following that brain scrambling skillet of wonderment are the Beatles themselves, appearing in an overly good mood (especially for 1968),…