Category: Music

John and Yoko Interview September 9, 1971

Lennon interview

On September 9, 1971, the day John Lennon’s album Imagine was released, journalist and radio personality Howard Smith had one of several conversations with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.  The conversations in their St. Regis Hotel room in New York City covered a variety of topics.

In this newly released excerpt prepared for Salon, Lennon and Ono talk about their relationship during this interview that precedes a later period of separation. Both Lennon and Ono respond to questions such as whether it is possible for people to be “too close.”

Of course, much of the conversation also drifts into the other Beatles. In particular, Lennon discusses how his song “How Do You Sleep?” on his new album is a response to Paul McCartney’s song about him, “Too Many People” from Ram (1971). [2019 Update:  Unfortunately, the excerpt is no longer available online but below is what is apparently the complete interview.]


Salon has an interesting article on the background about how the tape was found, as well as other information about the recordings.

What do you think is the most interesting part of the Lennon-Yoko interview? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Steve Earle Performing “The Low Highway” and “Invisible”

    Steve Earle recently performed two songs from his upcoming album The Low Highway on the Ron and Fez radio show. Check out “The Low Highway” and “Invisible” below.

    We have previously featured the video for “Invisible,” Earle’s new song about the homeless. The Low Highway will be released April 12.

    What do you think of Steve Earle’s new songs? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” in Music

    Tales of Mystery and Imagination Alan Parsons Project In a recent discussion of the song “The Raven” from The Alan Parsons Project album Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe, I promised to revisit the 1976 album. My favorite song on Tales of Mystery and Imagination tells the saga of one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe stories, “The Cask of Amontillado.”

    “The Cask of Amontillado” is narrated by a man taking revenge upon a person named Fortunato for some unnamed insult. The narrator tempts Fortunato to his basement with a cask of the alcoholic beverage Amontillado, a type of sherry. And then begins his plan.

    This fan video for The Alan Parsons Project song helps illustrate the disturbing tale, beginning with the wonderful opening haunting line by The Alan Parsons Project that encapsulates Poe’s story: “By the last breath of the four winds that blow / I’ll have revenge upon Fortunado.”

    Toby Keith used the idea of “The Cask of Amontillado” in a video for his song “A Little Too Late” from the CD White Trash With Money“ (2006). In the video, Keith uses the same idea that appears in the Poe story of building a tomb of bricks around one’s “enemy.”

    Although Keith’s song is not literally about the Poe story, the video, directed by Michael Salomon and featuring actress Krista Allen, gives a humorous twist to the original disturbing ending of the Poe story.  Check it out.

    “The Cask of Amontillado” has inspired other songs, TV shows, etc., in pop culture, such as an episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns tries the tactic on Homer. The twist in the Toby Keith video reportedly copied a 1971 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery called “The Merciful” (available on Hulu) so it is unclear how much the director was thinking of Edgar Allan Poe and how much of Rod Serling.

    Finally, did you know there is a word for building a wall around someone so they die? “Immurement.” Anyway, these immurements made some interesting stories and songs.

    What do you think of “The Cask of Amontillado”? Leave your two cents in comments.

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    “Sons and Daughters” on “The Office”

    Decemberists Crane Wife Last night, The Office featured what was apparently edited from the pilot for the abandoned spin-off series Shrute Farms. The episode “The Farm” featured Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) returning home after his aunt had died.

    In the episode, we also met Dwight’s brother Jeb (Thomas Middleditch) and his sister Fanny (Majandra Delfino).  The three siblings discovered that their aunt left her large farm to the three of them if they would return to take care of the farm.

    The enjoyable episode did seem like a pilot with the introduction of characters that you expect to be developed. Also, there were some oddball touches, touching on the strangeness we are used to seeing when Dwight has returned home in previous episodes.

    The Office has long been one of my favorite shows in both the American and the U.K. versions.  And even though I have missed Steve Carrell, I so hate to end my relationship with the characters that I would have given any spinoff a chance. It would have been interesting to see how Dwight’s life developed. But, alas, it is not to be.

    “Sons and Daughters”

    One of the interesting aspects of the episode was the appearance of a Decemberists song I really like, “Sons and Daughters.” In one scene, Dwight and his family sit around playing instruments and singing the song.

    While it seems odd that the Schrutes would be playing a recent song by the Decemberists instead of an old German folk tune, it was great to hear the Decemberists and “Sons and Daughters” getting some wider exposure. (Update: The original video of the scene is no longer on YouTube, but the video below includes some images from the episode.)

    The Decemberists

    “Sons and Daughters” appeared as the final song on the Decemberists album The Crane Wife (2006), the band’s major label debut.  The album is partly based on a Japanese folk tale about a man who discovers the woman he married is actually a crane he had once helped.

    As part of the song cycle on the album, “Sons and Daughters” is a hopeful ending, looking forward to a better future.

    When we arrive sons and daughters;
    We’ll make our homes on the water;
    We’ll build our walls with aluminum;
    We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon, now.

    Although it looks like there is no happy ending for Schrute Farms for now, we are hopeful that The Office will pull it together to give us a finale that lives up to this song and the great series. In this video, the Decemberists, who have previously appeared on The Simpsons, play “Sons and Daughters” at Metro Theatre in Sydney in 2010:



    What do you think of the final season of “The Office”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Manal al-Sharif and The Freedom of the Road

    manl al sharif driving You may not have heard of Manal al-Sharif, but Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2012 and The Atlantic Monthly included her among the Brave Thinkers of the year.

    Al-Sharif started a movement by a simple act that we take for granted here in the U.S. She got into a car and went for a drive in 2011. But she did her drive in Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden from driving.

    Along with a friend, she posted a video of her trip online and drew a following on a Facebook page called “Teach Me How to Drive So I Can Protect Myself” and through a Women2Drive campaign. Although she was arrested for a few days, her acts inspired other to protest the discrimination against women in Saudi Arabia.

    The prohibition is one of many types of gender discrimination in a country where girls need a male guardian’s permission to go to school. But al-Sharif’s choice of using a car for the protest touched on an international feeling about the road and what it represents.

    Singer-Songwriter Martin Sexton sings about “Freedom Of The Road” from another perspective. Although the title sounds like the song is a tribute to the joys of travel, the beautiful song is really about the weariness of living on the road. In the song, the singer reveals:

    Now I’ve had enough of this freedom of the road;
    Never was good with decisions that’s what I’ve been told;
    I’ve been holdin’ on to this ticket cause one day I’ll pass this toll;
    Magic road grant your freedom to someone else, for I’ll be comin’ home.

    We often forget that freedom is not just about fun and joy. Our freedom to choose gives us the power to choose wrong just like the freedom of the road gives us the power to be weary of our travels.

    Our freedoms — whether it be to drive, to marry, to have children, to work, to speak, to vote, etc. — come with no guarantee of happiness. They only give us a chance to try to find happiness.

    And al-Sharif knows that women everywhere should be given these chances and to discover the freedom of the road for themselves.

    What is your favorite story about the freedom of the road? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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