“Tell Me Why,” is the greatest black girl group doo-wop song ever.  John wrote it in Paris or New York, presumably influenced by his relationship with his then wife Cynthia, well, at least according to Paul McCartney.  John Lennon was a genius at creating the kind of propulsive and driving rock and roll that was also deliriously joyous.  “Tell Me Why” is like a massive bag of delicious candy in this regard, an unstoppable sugary confection of love, sadness, and exuberance.  The video below is from the “A Hard Day’s Night,” film, an excellent vehicle for the song.  Also, I noticed, YouTube started adding a 3D effect to some of its videos, and this one has it.  I couldn’t get it to work right, but maybe you can, in which case, the Beatles 3 pronged vocal attack will beam right out of your screen and into your face…pretty awesome, no?

Some Girls is one of the best Rolling Stones records.  It’s sleazy, dirty, punky, and country.  It came out in 1978, and has just been reissued it a nice little collectors package.  You should get it; I know I will.  To celebrate its corporate repackaging, I present to you a thoroughly scandalous fan made music video of the title song from the record.  The video features classic films such as “Easy Rider,” “Backbeat,” “Quadrophenia,” “Death Proof,” “Goodfellas,” and “Dr. No.”  It also has great clips of the Sex Pistols, Blondie, and the Rolling Stones, all vamping it up for one of the Stones most booziest songs.

Part 29 of my youtube countdown continues yesterday’s theme of solo Beatle acoustic performances.  In this one, we have John Lennon playing Dear Yoko at his Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island home.  The common response to seeing the video is two fold.  For starters, a lot of people have trouble believing its really John behind the hat and long beard.  Well, it’s him.  Second, people are blown away by the intimacy of this video performance, wondering if John somehow predicted the emergence of youtube.  Well, obviously he didn’t, but this rare video is a beautiful youtube gift.  Its the type of clip that justifies youtube’s existence.  The main thing that strikes me personally about this clip is the wonderful condition John’s voice is in.  One thing I’ve come to realize is that John continued to improve as a singer well after the Beatle years.  His singing on Double Fantasy is the best of his career in my opinion.  Another thing that hits me is the songwriting style of “Dear Yoko.”  It’s like a throwback to the love songs he wrote with Paul when he was 17, in its simplicity, but ironically, filled with way more innocence and vulnerability than he could ever muster at that age.

First of all, welcome to post #1 of my new website.  An historic happening indeed, right up there with the invention of the color green.  How to begin…Well, I think it’ll be fun to start with a new series where I post EVERY video in my favorite list from youtube.  For the most part, these videos are really cool, and favorited for a reason, but some are just random stuff I clicked on when I was drunk or extremely depressed.  So, it’ll be interesting to see what crazy stuff pops up.

Part 1 is Little Richard on some 60s TV show in Britain singing the Jerry Lee Lewis classic, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On.  Now, I love Jerry Lee, but I think this is the best live version of this song  I’ve ever seen.  Little Richard is giving an absolutely throat shredding performance for the ages, showcasing his stunning, one in a billion voice.  He starts off on piano, but leaves it to go into full blown manic preacher mode as all the British kids get down, and Little Richard’s shirt gets covered in sweat.  5 minutes and 41 seconds of rock and roll at its most raw, visceral, and, well, fun.  Enjoy.