Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
In 1964, The Beatles released their classic album Beatles for Sale. 43 years later that statement is as true today as it ever was.
In separate news stories it is being reported the childhood home of drummer Ringo Starr will not be demolished as was previously planned and the handwritten lyrics of George Harrison’s classic “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” are on the auction block.
The Liverpool City Council had planned to tear down the former Starkey home along with approximately 400 others as part of a planned redevelopment project. Ringo and his family called this particular dwelling home for a mere three months, leading the council to determine the home had no significant historical value.
Those plans have been put on hold and now negotiations are ongoing to preserve the home to be part of a museum.
Tearning down old buildings to put up shitty condos or another strip mall might not be the most romantic thing in the world, but turning a house baby Ringo spent three months living in into a museum seems a radical way to thwart the plans.
The handwritten lyrics to Harrison’s most famous Beatles songwriting contribution are expected to fetch more than $500,000 when the as-yet-identified owner puts the item up for auction January 15. Beatles fans might be interested to know this particular draft of the lyrics include some that did not make it into the song released on The Beatles (aka “The White Album). Also scrawled on the page is the phrase “The Band leader said he ain’t playin’ no more.” Those words might have been directed at either John Lennon or Paul McCartney as band tensions were at an all-time high during the long sessions for “The White Album.”
It was during this time Lennon started bringing Yoko Ono into the studio- which would make anybody tense. Far be it from me to tell anybody how to spend their half mill, but I think I’d rather just buy a copy of the album and be done with it. Maybe I am missing something- well, missing something besides a half million dollars.
