Amateur photographer Keith Jones loves his native Liverpool with a passion. His latest project has seen him going around the city snapping the Pool as it is today, and then overlaying how it would all have looked 50+ years ago; the Beatles landing at Speke Airport in 1964, now John Lennon Liverpool Airport, being a prime example.
I love gardens, but I hate gardening; the only thing worse than gardening is people talking about gardening. When we move I don't care if our new garden is the size of Richard Branson's wallet or a mere postage stamp - just so long as it's south facing. And if it's anything like Rowena's garden, then so much the better.
The Sounds Of My Garden - 'I painted what I could hear'
Lennon and McCartney wrote many songs together; and many more apart. But if you were to add up the ones neither of them had a hand in - but should have got a co-write on - you'd need a supercomputer. You know what (and who) I'm talking about: take your pick from any of this lot's back catalogues just for starters: Crowded House, World Party, Squeeze, Cheap Trick, Dodgy, Badfinger, Big Star, Oasis, Cotton Mather, ELO, Pugwash, XTC, Utopia, and (don't forget) The Rutles - the list is endless. Interestingly, these days Macca himself can't write a Paul McCartney song anymore without it sounding like a Wings pastiche. How tragic is that?
As this blog enters its eighth year you can see there's been a lot of Beatles related activity (the leader board on the left hand side of the screen is a dead giveaway) since 2010. But I've never before mentioned this trio of moptastic Macca infused Beatles soundalikes: from the top - The Rembrandts condensing the White Album into three minutes, followed by the Chili Peppers melding 'Helter Skelter' & 'Vanilla Sky'. And, finally, Jellyfish, who probably lived on a very limited diet of Rubber Soul and Revolver.
Macca is currently taking Sony through the courts, trying to get his hands back on 'Love Me Do', 'Please Please Me' and all the other tunes he and Lennon wrote which are soon coming out of copyright quarantine. If I was his him I'd be setting my legal rottweilers on all the artists I've mentioned above. And the hundreds more I haven't.
In 1971 there was no love lost between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Their solo albums from the time were loaded with venomous intertribal references; both eager to piss on the other's chips. Lennon, however, had to have the last word. Early copies of his Imagine album came with a limited edition postcard of him fondling a pig's ears. A direct jibe at Macca's Ram album cover. I told you it was serious.
The brushes came out for the first time this year. But feeling lazy, and a little mischievous, I had a go at copying one of my heroes.
As I said a couple of weeks ago, David Hockney is a unique British artist. His Bigger Splash has been copied and parodied many times; not least by John Myatt. In the world of fakes, Myatt is the real deal. He did four years bird for conning the art world. These days he teaches fellow artists the tricks of the trade. And like all the best teachers (well, those who've done time) he's part mentor, part bully. I love the series he did for Sky Arts a few years back - this is the Hockney episode:
