John Lennon

Get Lit: A Turtle’s Life

Drenched In Blog: Sir Mick's Greatest "Hits"

Get Lit: Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon, by May Pang

The Most Demanding Songs in Rock History

Remembering John Lennon

On December 8, 1980 - 28 years to the day - John Lennon was shot and killed on the steps of the Dakota Apartments on New York City's Upper West Side by professed fan Mark David Chapman. It was a Monday just like today, and millions of people found out when ABC Sports' Howard Cosell broke the ... More >>

Eyeballin': A Technicolor Dream

This documentary, originally broadcast on BBC television, traces the coalition of the "underground" movement in swinging '60s London. Beginning with a groundbreaking 1965 gathering/reading of the Beat poets at the Royal Albert Hall and following with the opening of the Indica bookstore and galler ... More >>

O No, Mr. Lennon

This documentary, originally broadcast on BBC television, traces the coalition of the "underground" movement in swinging '60s London. Beginning with a groundbreaking 1965 gathering/reading of the Beat poets at the Royal Albert Hall and following with the opening of the Indica bookstore and galler ... More >>

Here's the soundtrack to your future unemployment!

Worked Up

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

David Leaf’s documentary shows the giant steps the feds took against a cultural icon

That's the Way They Get By

Spoon's Britt Daniel turns his camera on

Meet the Beatle

John Lennon's other art takes center stage in "When I'm Sixty Four"

Robyn Hitchcock

Spooked

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Spooked

Mama Tried: A Mother's Day Playlist

Where would we be without our mothers? Ummm... nowhere. So even though mothers come in all forms, from the highest quality (such as the kind the Gray boys are blessed with) to the absentee variety to the just plain crazy, you've got to at least remember that they're the reason you even exist at all. ... More >>

Remembering 1969, Part 3: The Beginning of the End for the Beatles

Note: see Part 1 here and Part 2 here. For most of 1969, the Beatles were pretty much comatose - after the disastrous Get Back sessions (which would later spawn the Phil Spector-produced Let It Be), they reconvened to the studio that spring to record the music for what would become their final reco ... More >>

Eyeballin': John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto '69

It's a story well-told in Beatles lore. Reeling from the Fab Four's unraveling, a bored John Lennon accepted an invitation to perform at the Toronto Rock 'n Roll Revival show in September 1969. He quickly formed an ad hoc group of friends (wife Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass ... More >>

Slide Show: Day of the Duos

Today marks the anniversary of the day in 1957 that John Lennon met Paul McCartney, when Paul happened to take in John's pre-Beatles band, the Quarrymen, at a Liverpool church picnic. Exactly seven years later came the London premiere of A Hard Day's Night, the manic movie whose soundtrack cemented ... More >>

Slide Show: Albums That Went Darker

​ For most rock acts, the traditional way to deal with success is to rework their lyrics, image and sound to become palatable to a larger audience. Usually this means brightening the subject matter, cleaning up the bad words, softening the sharp edges on those power chords and getting haircuts tha ... More >>

9/9/09: Songs With a Certain Number in the Title

​As Hair Balls pointed out, we've only got three more of these weird number/same number/same number days left this century after today. Such chronological repetition appeals to the hidden obsessive-compulsive in all of us, so join us as we wash our hands nine times, lock the door nine times, and l ... More >>

"Imagine" This: What If John Lennon Were Still With Us?

Today marks what would have been John Lennon's 69th birthday. Just let that sink in for a moment. He was only 40 when he passed away, but in those four decades he did enough to change the world and its inhabitants for pretty much the rest of natural human history - not just in music but also in for ... More >>

Westheimer Block Party Listology: Fiskadoro Chooses Artists They'd Bring Back to Life

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want ... More >>

Beetle's Paul Beebe and Other Local Musicians Remember John Lennon

Today is one of the most dubious anniversaries in all of rock and roll. Twenty-nine years ago this evening, Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon on the front steps of Lennon's apartment building on the Upper West Side of New York City, the Dakota. For Baby Boomers and even their older kid ... More >>

8 Songs Guaranteed To Get Those Damn Relatives To Leave Already

​But if I really say it, the radio won't play it, Unless I lay it between the lines! - Peter, Paul and Mary, "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" We know, we know. It's late Christmas evening, you've had a few too many glasses of nog. That turkey is starting to take its toll, and yet you've still got a hou ... More >>

Get Lit: Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin

​Rocks Off understands that this effort is meant for a more general audience and not a Beatles obsessive like himself who owns a bookcase stocked with 93 Fab-related tomes (we counted). And on that level, A Life is a fine if surface summation of the life and career of Sir Paul. Much of Carlin's na ... More >>

He Said She Said: The Sweet, Sweet Sounds of Revenge, Part 2

​For someone who wears motorcycle boots and carries a knife, the bald(ing) He Said rightfully looks like he should be one of the most vindictive cats in the world. But in reality, the only revenge we have ever taken has been of the emotional variety, and that's probably much worse than any windows ... More >>

Idol Beat: Lennon-McCartney, Weak

"Paul, I'm starting to wish we'd never written these songs."​There was no mentor this week on American Idol, though I find myself pining for one when I realized that that meant this week's taped bits would be the kind of cheesy and unfeeling montages in which the contestants talk about how muc ... More >>

American Idol: Lennon-McCartney, Weak

"Paul, I'm starting to wish we'd never written these songs."​There was no mentor this week on American Idol, though I find myself pining for one when I realized that that meant this week's taped bits would be the kind of cheesy and unfeeling montages in which the contestants talk about how muc ... More >>

Bigger Than Jesus: The Best Musician Boasts

overthinkingit.com​First off, Rocks Off is not including rap and hip-hop artists in this article, because a) we'd be here all damn day; and b) We could write another book about what we don't know about the rap world. So we'll just stick to good old-fashioned rock-star prick-waving. Whether ... More >>

Can't Buy Me Love: Post-Breakup Beatles In A Tangled Web

You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup By Peter Doggett ​It says something about the market for books about the Fabs that this is one of many dedicated to the group's breakup, financial story and legal battles. However, Doggett (Are You Ready for the Country?) not only pr ... More >>

John Lennon Bus: Making Music With Houston Kids And The Black Eyed Peas

Photo by Chasen MarshallThe sidewalk at Discovery Green is currently for bus parking.​The dark blue bus parked on the sidewalk at Discovery Green downtown looks like something that might show up outside House of Blues on the night of a show, but it has more going on then one would think.Beyond bei ... More >>

John Lennon And Dimebag Darrell: Together In Death

​On this day in 1980, Mark David Chapman shot and killed former Beatle John Lennon. On the same day in 2004, Nathan Gale shot and killed Darrell Abbott, aka Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. In the spirit of the famous Lincoln/Kennedy coincidences list, which is mostly bullshit, here is a list f ... More >>

John Lennon's Top 10 Solo Songs

Cactus Music is hosting a Beatles & John Lennon DJ session featuring DJ Black Slacks from 5-7 p.m. today in the Record Ranch, 2110 Portsmouth. ​Today marks 30 years since humanity lost John Lennon. The man has haunted Craig's Hlist since he was very little, when the man broke out from being t ... More >>

The 31 Best Music Documentaries Of All Time

​Hands down, above all of these following music documentaries, Craig's Hlist's two favorite of all-time are The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years, and The Beatles Anthology. We can watch both on repeat for days and not complain. That will probably all change once we see ... More >>

Five Songs That Huck Finn Guy Should Censor Next

gutenberg.org​As many of you probably already know, Alabama publisher NewSouth Inc. plans to release censored versions of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, replacing the words "nigger" and "Injun" with "slave" and "Indian," respectively. That's ... More >>

Some Can Whistle: A Playlist To Don't Worry, Be Happy

​It's often the little things that make our favorite songs our favorites - the curious, unforeseen additions of small touches like an understated bit of whistling. For those who like to categorize their playlists into themes, we present you with the Rocks Off approved Whistle Playlist. The S ... More >>

10 Beatles Urban Legends: True Or False?

​When you're a band like the Beatles - who first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964, 47 years ago today - tall tales and urban legends spring up all around... mostly because when a band is a worldwide cultural phenomenon, anything can seem possible or even plausible. Some of th ... More >>

Yoko Ono: Five Reasons She Still Matters

​Friday, Yoko Ono Lennon, widow of John Lennon, turns 78 years old. She's still as vibrant and prolific as ever, staying in the spotlight, not only as the keeper of Lennon's flame but also as an influential artist and public figure. Here is where Beatles fans will scoff and say her art was g ... More >>

Solo Albums: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

​Tomorrow night, former Audioslave lead singer and (thankfully) current Soundgarden member Chris Cornell will be at House of Blues for a long-sold-out acoustic show. Recent set lists have included a number of Temple of the Dog songs, some solo work, the usual 'Garden and 'Slave tracks, plus a ... More >>

The 10 Worst Things Texas Has Given To The Modern World

It's not nature's way, it's Houston's​If we were to list all the great, terrific things Texas, Our Texas has given to civilization, we would be here all day. (Two words: Jessica Simpson.) Unfortunately, Texas has also gifted America and the world with some things the world and America would n ... More >>

Five Life Lessons From John Lennon's "Lost Weekend"

​Rocks Off would like to wish a very happy 70th birthday to one of the coolest pop cats out there, Harry Nilsson. Four times out of five, whenever we play the jukebox at Warren's, we put on something from his Greatest Hits - like Martin Scorsese, we usually leave the lime in the coconut and ju ... More >>

Four Musicians Roth Vs. U.S. Would Have Jailed (NSFW)

AP/Life.comSamuel Roth​Standing up for the First Amendement is a hard row to hoe sometimes. Sure, it's fun when you can defend someone like Marilyn Manson, but it's a lot less fun when you realize you also have to defend people like the Westboro Baptist Church. Thems the breaks, though. If you ... More >>

The Ten Coolest Animated Google Doodles

​Today, Google's logo looked like the image above and became a heated topic on Twitter. The logo -- referred to as a "doodle" -- had people wondering why anyone should celebrate the birthday of a dead guy and just who the hell Gregor Mendel was in the first place. In fact, Google regularly ... More >>

10 Songs For Pissed-Off Travelers

This spring, Austin honky-tonker and Pasadena native Dale Watson had some dates in Australia and made the mistake of booking a flight from Sydney to Melbourne on Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, not only did the airline charge Watson a $500 exce ... More >>

10 Things You May Not Know About The Beatles' Revolver

​First released in the UK on August 5, 1966, the Beatles' Revolver was born into tumultuous times for the band. The "Bigger Than Jesus" debacle was reaching its height in the United States, as some fans who took John Lennon's flippant remark about his band's popularity as heresy burned Beatles ... More >>

Purple, Possessed & Pervy: Rock's Top 10 Houses

harleyslist.blogspot.comJohn Lennon and Yoko Ono in a happy pose in front of their home (and future site of Lennon's assassination).​Celebrity homes will always be a source of fascination, offering a glimpse at the intimate, private side of those who live their lives in the public eye. And it' ... More >>

Troubled Fantasy: Creepy Wax Figures Of John Lennon

Benjamin Franklin, is that you? ​It's a big week for Beatles fans, which is like saying it's a big week for people who like air and water. Yesterday was John Lennon's 71st birthday, and tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of "Imagine." The Martin Scorsese-directed doc on George Harrison's life, t ... More >>

Your Biggest Fan: When Rockers Get Stalkers

cinemafestival/shutterstock.com​This past week a statement by pop institution Madonna helped put away one of her newest stalkers, Polish citizen Grzegorz Matlok, who broke into Madge's London home and the residence of her ex-hubby Guy Ritchie. Madonna submitted the statement to Southwark Crown ... More >>

John Lennon's Imagine Turns 40: Ten Facts About The Album

​Forty years ago this past week, John Lennon's second solo LP away from the Beatles, Imagine, hit number one on the UK album charts. The album was released on October 8, 1971 in England and September 9, 1971 here in the States. The album was seen as a commercial answer to his previous outing ... More >>

Looking Glass: Rock Music's Five Most Famous Four Eyes (Other Than Buddy Holly)

Holly had no idea what he was starting.​The Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article about Buddy Holly's optometrist. That's not something most people would think about when it comes to music, but fashion has been significantly influenced over the years by music. In much the same way C ... More >>

Lord Lordy, Look Who's Forty: The Best Albums Of 1972

​Last week I told you about the best debut albums of 1992, making a lot of us feel old in the process. Hell, I was only nine when those came out and I felt feeble making the list. This week we look at the best albums of 1972, now four decades in the hole, but no less fulfilling and influenti ... More >>