McCartney Times

With the recent passing of the 36th anniversary of his death, I couldn’t help but wonder what the founder of The Beatles — John Lennon, a master of word-play and sarcasm — would have to say about today’s music, art and politics. It would be anybody’s guess. After all, in his nearly 20 years as a public figure Lennon’s knack for changing before our eyes was dazzling. There’s no reason to think such a restless soul wouldn’t have kept on changing … and commenting.In February 1964, The Beatles made their initial appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. Those two Sunday nights were less than three months after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Surely, the somber mood of the nation, still trying to regain its balance, had something to do with why those fresh-sounding Beatles tunes cut through the fog of melancholia with such verve. Notably, there’s been no explosion in American pop music since then equivalent to the impact of

Source: F.T. Rea: shredding magazines, dying comets, and John Lennon – Richmond Times-Dispatch: Guest-columnists