Though it may not be a Christmas song, this song from Ringo Starr feels appropriate for the season. Ringo sings for peace and hope in this song and he’s brought along an impressive supporting cast to help him make his case. Among those featured in the song and the video: Paul McCartney & Joe Walsh, Corinne Bailey Rae, Eric Burton, Sheryl Crow, FINNEAS, Dave Grohl, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Jenny Lewis, Steve Lukather, Chris Stapleton, and Yola.
Enjoy!
Ok, time to get back in the saddle.
The latest entry in the “Greatest Guitar Solos Series” comes courtesy of The Beatles and one of the best songs, if not the best one, from their 1969 album, Abbey Road.
The song is the George Harrison penned “Something” and its been acknowledged by musicians and critics to be the greatest love song that doesn’t have the mention the word love (on a serious note, it is the greatest love song).
The guitar solo is performed by George Harrison and arrives as part of the song’s outro.
Something
[Verse 1]
Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
[Chorus]
I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
[Verse 2]
Somewhere in her smile, she knows
That I don’t need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
[Chorus]
I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
[Bridge]
You’re asking me, will my love grow?
I don’t know, I don’t know
You stick around, now, it may show
I don’t know, I don’t know
[Guitar Solo]
Great Guitar Solos Series
What’s an Insomnia File? You know how some times you just can’t get any sleep and, at about three in the morning, you’ll find yourself watching whatever you can find on cable or streaming? This feature is all about those insomnia-inspired discoveries!
If you find yourself having trouble getting to sleep tonight, you can always pass the time by watching the 1968 film, Candy. It’s currently on Tubi.
Based on a satirical novel by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg, Candy follows Candy Christian (Ewa Aulin), a naive teenager from middle America as she has a number of increasingly surreal adventures, the majority of which end with her getting sexually assaulted by one of the film’s special guest stars. It’s very much a film of the 60s, in that it’s anti-establishment without actually seeming to know who the establishment is. It opens with a lengthy sequence that appears to be taking place in outer space. It ends with an extended sequence of Candy walking amongst the film’s cast and a bunch of random hippies. Director Christian Marquand appears as himself, directing the film. Yep, this is one of those films where the director and the film crew show up and you’re supposed to be say, “Far out, I didn’t realize I was watching a movie, man.”
The whole thing is a bit of a misfire. The novel was meant to be smut that satirized smut. The film isn’t really clever enough to work on any sort of real satirical level. As was the case with a lot of studio-made “psychedelic” films in the 60s, everything is a bit too obvious and overdone. Casting the Swedish Ewa Aulin as a character who was meant to represent middle America was just one of the film’s missteps. Based on The Graduate, Mike Nichols probably could have made a clever film out of Candy. The French Christian Marquand, a protegee of Roger Vadim’s, can not because he refuses to get out of the film’s way. It’s all jump cuts, flashy cinematography, and attempts to poke fun at American culture by someone who obviously knew nothing about America beyond the jokes told in Paris.
That said, the main reason that anyone would watch this film would be for the collection of guest stars who all show up and try to take advantage of Candy. Richard Burton plays an alcoholic poet named MacPhisto and his appearance goes on for far too long. (Burton, not surprisingly, appears to actually be drunk for the majority of his scenes.) Ringo Star — yes, Ringo Starr — plays a Mexican gardener who assaults Candy after getting turned on by the sight of MacPhisto humping a mannequin. When Emmanuel’s sisters try to attack Candy, she and her parents escape on a military plane that is commanded by Walter Matthau. Landing in New York, Candy’s brain-damaged father (John Astin) is operated on by a brilliant doctor (James Coburn) who later seduces Candy after she faints at a cocktail party. Candy’s uncle (John Astin, again) also tries to seduce Candy, leading to Candy getting lost in New York, meeting a hunchback (Charles Aznavour), and then eventually ending up with a guru (Marlon Brando). Candy’s adventures climax with a particularly sick joke that requires a bit more skill to pull off than this film can afford.
If you’re wondering how all of these famous people ended up in this movie, you have Brando to thank (or blame). Christian Marquand was Brando’s best friend and Marlon even named his son after him. After Brando agreed to appear in the film, the rest of the actors followed. Brando, Burton, and Coburn received a share of the film’s profits and Coburn later said that his entire post-1968 lifestyle was pretty much paid for by Candy. That seems appropriate as, out of all the guest stars, Coburn i the only one who actually gives an interesting performance. Burton is too drunk, Matthau is too embarrassed, Starr is too amateurish, and Brando is too self-amused to really be interesting in the film. Coburn, however, seems to be having a blast, playing his doctor as being a medical cult leader.
Candy is very much a film of 1968. It has some value as a cultural relic. Ultimately, it’s main interest is as an example of how the studios tried (and failed) to latch onto the counterculture zeitgeist.
Previous Insomnia Files:
Today’s music video of the day comes to use from Ringo Starr and …. hey, this is the first 2025 video that has been shared on the Shattered Lens! I’m happy to give that honor to the most likable member of the Beatles.
This song is from Ringo’s new country-and-western album. Despite being from the Southwest, I tend to prefer EDM to C&W but still, it’s a nice little song. I like the positivity of it. I honestly feel like my prediction that the 2020s would be a lot like the 1970s is finally starting to come true. People are tired of being depressed and stressed all the time.
Enjoy!
Hey, it’s the Beatles!
The 1970 documentary Let It Be, which is now streaming on Disney+ after being impossible to see for decades, follows the Beatles as they record music, occasionally argue, occasionally laugh, collaborate on songs, and ultimately play the famous rooftop concert that was eventually ended by the London police. Paul McCartney smiles and laughs and jokes but he also obsesses over every little musical detail and often seems to be talking in order to keep anyone else from getting a cross word in. John Lennon dances with Yoko Ono and occasionally smiles but often seems like his mind is elsewhere. George Harrison smiles whenever he know that the camera is on him but, when glimpsed in the background, he doesn’t seem happy at all. Ringo patiently waits for his chance to perform, sometimes bored and sometimes amused but always the most likable of the bunch. He and George work on Octopus Garden and it’s a charming moment, if just because it’s obvious that both men would rather be there than in the studio.
Even if you haven’t seen Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back (which was constructed out of material that was shot for but not used in this documentary), Let It Be is often time one of the most depressing behind-the-scenes documentaries ever made. The more the individual members of the Beatles smile and perform for the camera, the more one can see the cracks that have formed in their relationships. With Lennon spending most of his time with Yoko, it’s Paul who dominates the documentary. Paul comes across as being charming and talented but his habit of nonstop talking gives the impression of someone who is desperately trying to hold together a sinking ship. At one point, George snaps that he’ll play the guitar however Paul tells him to and it’s obvious that, for George and probably the others as well, being the world’s most popular band has gone from being a thrill to just being another job. When Paul and John talk about how much fun they had when they first started playing live in Hamburg, it’s obvious that the conversation is at least partially staged to set up the rooftop concert but there’s a genuine sadness to their voices. Even as they write and record new songs, they’re realizing that all things must pass.
But then the Beatles give a rooftop concert and they bring London to a halt and, for a few minutes, it seems like everything is going to be alright. Standing on the roof and performing a wonderful version of Get Back, the Beatles are suddenly a band just having fun and it’s delightful to see. Later, John Lennon gets a devilish gleam in his eyes as he sings the raunchy (for 1969) lyrics for I’ve Got A Feeling. Even George looks happy for a few moments. People gather in the street below to watch and the camera is quick to show us that both young and old love the Beatles. Of course, eventually, the police show up and shut down the show. (Of course, being British police, they’re very polite about it. One has to breathe a sigh of relief that the Beatles didn’t try to do their rooftop show in New York or Los Angeles.) It’s a reminder that nothing lasts forever. Eventually, every concert comes to an end.
It’s interesting to compare Let It Be to another 70s documentary about a famous British rock band. In Gimme Shelter, the Altamont Free Concert ends with a murder as Mick Jagger pleads with the crowd to stop fighting and just sit down. In Let It Be, things end with a random joke from John Lennon, who would himself be murdered in just ten years. Both Gimme Shelter and Let It Be are about the end of an era and both are full of regret and a longing for a simpler and more idealistic era. For those of us who want to understand history, they’re essential.
Today, we we wish a happy birthday to everyone’s favorite Beatle, Ringo Starr.
Enjoy!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? 1981’s Caveman!
Join Dennis Quaid, Barbara Bach, Shelley Long, and Ringo Starr as they make their way through a prehistoric wonderland! It’s a film with two things that everyone loves, dinosaurs and comedy!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Caveman is available on Prime, Tubi, Pluto, and almost every other streaming service! See you there!
Though it may not be a Christmas song, the latest single from Ringo Starr feels appropriate for the season. Ringo sings for peace and hope in this song and he’s brought along an impressive supporting cast to help him make his case. Among those featured in the song and the video: Paul McCartney & Joe Walsh, Corinne Bailey Rae, Eric Burton, Sheryl Crow, FINNEAS, Dave Grohl, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Jenny Lewis, Steve Lukather, Chris Stapleton, and Yola.
I searched but I could not find a credited director for this video.
Enjoy!
Frank Zappa is definitely an acquired taste, one I acquired as a young kid listening to albums like “Absolutely Free”, “Weasels Ripped My Flesh”, and “Apostrophe”, which goes a long way in helping to explain my warped world view. Zappa’s avant garde rock’n’roll, a mélange of jazz, classical, doo-wop, psychedelica, and anything else he could think of, combined with his nonsensical, sexual, and scatological lyrics, skewered convention, the plastic world of suburban America, and hippie culture as well (Zappa was an equal opportunity offender). 200 MOTELS was his first attempt at making a movie, co-directing and co-writing with British documentarian Tony Palmer, and to call it bizarre would be a gross understatement.
Visually, the film is as close to Zappa’s avant garde compositions as you can get. 200 MOTELS was shot on videotape and transferred to 35mm film, using techniques like double and triple exposure, color filters, flash-cut editing, and…
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Beatle fans will have a blast watching THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS, director Ron Howard’s 2016 rock doc covering the Fab Four’s career from their earliest club days through the height of Beatlemania, until they stopped touring for good in 1966. The film features rare and classic footage of The Beatles live in concert around the globe, juxtaposing their rise with news events of the day and interviews with all four members.
Howard conducted brand-new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and included archival interviews with the late John Lennon and George Harrison. Through these and behind the scenes clips and press conferences, we get a sense of what it was like to be at the center of all the Beatlemania madness. Ringo says it best: “We just wanted to play… playing was the only thing” far as these talented musicians were concerned, but…
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Through the Shattered Lens 