On June 25, 1967, The Beatles recorded their masterpiece, All You Need is Love, in front of a live studio audience. The track was also recorded with the world in attendance. Their recording session was the first ever live, worldwide satellite broadcast.
It's fascinating to watch. Enjoy...
Showing posts with label All You Need Is Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All You Need Is Love. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2012
Sunday, July 24, 2011
New York Starts Marriages Of Same-Sex Couples
At the stroke of midnight, gay, lesbian and bisexual couples in New York started making their legal, lifelong commitment to each other. What a historic day to witness.
Kitty Lambert, 54, and Cheryle Rudd, 53, became the first couple to be married at Niagara Falls as the clock struck 12. At 9:02AM, Phyllis Siegel, 76, and Connie Kopelov, 84, became the first same-sex couple to be married in Manhattan. Siegal, who has been with her partner for 23 years, later said,
23 years! I cannot imagine being with my wife for the last 23 years, and only being able to legally get married to her today. Unbelievable. Siegel and Kopelov are one of the 823 couples scheduled to be married today, just in New York City. The following video was shot by the Associated Press. It shows dozens of couples in line to exchange their nuptials. It also shows a number of people from Westboro Baptist Church trying to spoil the party. As of the moment, they seem to have been largely ignored by marriage supporters. One suggestion: I wouldn't watch the following video on Youtube, unless you're prepared to read a large number of disgusting and hateful comments.
New Yorkers have fought hard for this. It's only fitting that marriage equality finally comes to the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement. My favorite gay couple can get married now, after over 40 years of being together.
All joking aside, congratulations, New York.
Kitty Lambert, 54, and Cheryle Rudd, 53, became the first couple to be married at Niagara Falls as the clock struck 12. At 9:02AM, Phyllis Siegel, 76, and Connie Kopelov, 84, became the first same-sex couple to be married in Manhattan. Siegal, who has been with her partner for 23 years, later said,
‘‘It was just so amazing. It’s the only way I can describe it. I lost my breath and a few tears.’’
23 years! I cannot imagine being with my wife for the last 23 years, and only being able to legally get married to her today. Unbelievable. Siegel and Kopelov are one of the 823 couples scheduled to be married today, just in New York City. The following video was shot by the Associated Press. It shows dozens of couples in line to exchange their nuptials. It also shows a number of people from Westboro Baptist Church trying to spoil the party. As of the moment, they seem to have been largely ignored by marriage supporters. One suggestion: I wouldn't watch the following video on Youtube, unless you're prepared to read a large number of disgusting and hateful comments.
New Yorkers have fought hard for this. It's only fitting that marriage equality finally comes to the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement. My favorite gay couple can get married now, after over 40 years of being together.
All joking aside, congratulations, New York.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Happy Birthday, John.
Had John Lennon still been alive, he would have turned 69 today. On the day when the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, I think it is a great time to take a moment to think about what another man could have accomplished had his life not been cut short.
To steal a line from Elvis Costello, all Lennon ever preached was "Peace, Love and Understanding".
I grew up listening to the Beatles. My parents weren't "die hard fans", but "admirers and listeners". My mother saw them perform on Ed Sullivan. She had a couple of their 45s and the 'Rubber Soul' LP, which she later passed on to me. By the time I came along, my mom had moved on to Motown, and my dad to country music. Most of what I knew of the Beatles I discovered myself in my early teens.
I had picked up their greatest hits CDs; the red and blue albums. I realized very quickly that I was a fan of the blue album and not the red. It was very easy to tell when they were starting to find themselves; as men, as musicians, spiritually and psychedelically. It was also very easy to tell which songs were written by Paul and which ones were written by John. Paul was simple....'Blackbird', 'Yesterday', 'Hey Jude'. John was fuckin' out there.....'I Am The Walrus', 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'A Day In The Life'. It took 10 seconds of a song to tell if Paul wrote it or John wrote it.
By the time I met my wife, I was such a Beatles fan, simply because of John Lennon, their music made up a large part of what I had listened to. Luckily for me, I met someone that loved his music just as much as I did. We enjoyed his music so much that we decided that, when the time came for us to get married, we would walk down the aisle to Lennon's songs.
And when it came to love, John could blow the doors off of a love song. During his solo career, he wrote and recorded a demo song for his wife, Yoko, called 'Real Love'. The demo was eventually released, but didn't get any airplay. It was actually featured in the movie 'Funny People', with Adam Sandler singing it, and it sounded quite nice.
Two years ago, a benefit CD was released called 'Instant Karma'. It was a CD of all John Lennon covers by various artists to help relief efforts in Darfur. On that CD, Regina Spektor, covered the song Real Love. You would think John personally wrote the song for her 35 years ago to sing it. Take a listen:
We were driving in our car the first time we heard it. We had to pull over because were crying so hard. We couldn't stop smiling and kissing each other. We knew it was the song that Jessi was meant to walk down the aisle to.
But what for after the kissing of the bride? We both felt that John had written, in our opinion, what I think is probably the most over the top, celebratory, philosophical songs of all time with the most simple message of any song in the 20th century: 'All You Need Is Love'. With the horns coming in at the beginning of the song, announcing to the world for the first time in history "Mr. and Mrs. Adam Hall". We felt it was the perfect match. I love this video. It amazes me that this song...the horns...the strings...the band...the extras...all were on one take, one track. Music isn't recorded like that anymore. It never will be again.
It was the perfect wedding plan. Immediately following the ceremony, we were going to see Cirque du Soleil's Beatle's 'Love'. One hell of a night planned. Then, we found out a little one was on the way. Jessi would have been 7 months pregnant at the time of the wedding. Early March, low 90s, Las Vegas...not a good idea. Within two weeks of finding out about the baby, we had already decided on a name: Lennon. It would been Lennon Ruth for a girl, or Lennon Matthew for a boy. Not because of his music, but what he stood for.
He was the embodiment of peace. 'Give peace a chance'. 'All you need is love'. He even released a Christmas song that was more about ending the Vietnam War than it was about Christmas. He used his celebrity to get media attention. He used his talent to get people thinking.
The day I realized what we were going to name our child I got a tattoo. It is a replica of the Lennon memorial in Central Park in New York City.
So John, not only today, October 9th, but because of my beautiful daughter, I think of you and thank you for showing me that I'm a "dreamer" too.
To steal a line from Elvis Costello, all Lennon ever preached was "Peace, Love and Understanding".
I grew up listening to the Beatles. My parents weren't "die hard fans", but "admirers and listeners". My mother saw them perform on Ed Sullivan. She had a couple of their 45s and the 'Rubber Soul' LP, which she later passed on to me. By the time I came along, my mom had moved on to Motown, and my dad to country music. Most of what I knew of the Beatles I discovered myself in my early teens.
I had picked up their greatest hits CDs; the red and blue albums. I realized very quickly that I was a fan of the blue album and not the red. It was very easy to tell when they were starting to find themselves; as men, as musicians, spiritually and psychedelically. It was also very easy to tell which songs were written by Paul and which ones were written by John. Paul was simple....'Blackbird', 'Yesterday', 'Hey Jude'. John was fuckin' out there.....'I Am The Walrus', 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'A Day In The Life'. It took 10 seconds of a song to tell if Paul wrote it or John wrote it.
By the time I met my wife, I was such a Beatles fan, simply because of John Lennon, their music made up a large part of what I had listened to. Luckily for me, I met someone that loved his music just as much as I did. We enjoyed his music so much that we decided that, when the time came for us to get married, we would walk down the aisle to Lennon's songs.
And when it came to love, John could blow the doors off of a love song. During his solo career, he wrote and recorded a demo song for his wife, Yoko, called 'Real Love'. The demo was eventually released, but didn't get any airplay. It was actually featured in the movie 'Funny People', with Adam Sandler singing it, and it sounded quite nice.
Two years ago, a benefit CD was released called 'Instant Karma'. It was a CD of all John Lennon covers by various artists to help relief efforts in Darfur. On that CD, Regina Spektor, covered the song Real Love. You would think John personally wrote the song for her 35 years ago to sing it. Take a listen:
We were driving in our car the first time we heard it. We had to pull over because were crying so hard. We couldn't stop smiling and kissing each other. We knew it was the song that Jessi was meant to walk down the aisle to.
But what for after the kissing of the bride? We both felt that John had written, in our opinion, what I think is probably the most over the top, celebratory, philosophical songs of all time with the most simple message of any song in the 20th century: 'All You Need Is Love'. With the horns coming in at the beginning of the song, announcing to the world for the first time in history "Mr. and Mrs. Adam Hall". We felt it was the perfect match. I love this video. It amazes me that this song...the horns...the strings...the band...the extras...all were on one take, one track. Music isn't recorded like that anymore. It never will be again.
It was the perfect wedding plan. Immediately following the ceremony, we were going to see Cirque du Soleil's Beatle's 'Love'. One hell of a night planned. Then, we found out a little one was on the way. Jessi would have been 7 months pregnant at the time of the wedding. Early March, low 90s, Las Vegas...not a good idea. Within two weeks of finding out about the baby, we had already decided on a name: Lennon. It would been Lennon Ruth for a girl, or Lennon Matthew for a boy. Not because of his music, but what he stood for.
He was the embodiment of peace. 'Give peace a chance'. 'All you need is love'. He even released a Christmas song that was more about ending the Vietnam War than it was about Christmas. He used his celebrity to get media attention. He used his talent to get people thinking.
The day I realized what we were going to name our child I got a tattoo. It is a replica of the Lennon memorial in Central Park in New York City.
So John, not only today, October 9th, but because of my beautiful daughter, I think of you and thank you for showing me that I'm a "dreamer" too.
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