Note: To commemorate the 70th birthday of John Lennon, we’re revisiting this single from early in his post-Beatles career. One of the things I find most fascinating about the man was how he was able to impart blunt, timeless wisdom about our lives while struggling to make sense of his. “Karma” was one of those ‘message’ songs that he so [...]

by Mark Saleski I remember exactly where I was when I found out. I was hanging out in a friend’s first floor dorm room in Aroostook Hall at the University of Maine. The only things I can remember about him are that his name was Fred and he was from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. I walked into the room and he said, [...]

By Nick DeRiso and S. Victor Aaron Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has taken his share of knocks over the years. Some of those, in the interest of full disclosure, came from us. Then there was legendary jazz figure Buddy Rich’s blunt assessment: “Ringo Starr was adequate. No more than that.” Still, it wasn’t like he didn’t have his moments — [...]

by Nick DeRiso “Come Together,” a concert first envisioned as a benefit to raise anti-violence awareness through the work of John Lennon, was scheduled to be held on Oct. 2, 2001, at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall. Then came Sept. 11. This rangy event, featuring recorded snippets of Lennon interviews and new interpretations of his songs (both [...]

When Ringo Starr recently announced that he wouldn’t be responding to any more fan mail, it occurred to me that he must be completely unaware of the disastrous foibles he’s unleashed on a loving but ultimately unwitting fanbase. Certainly likeable (at one time, anyway), Starr was and is a drive-by celeb, someone so lightning-strike lucky to have replaced Pete Best [...]

NICK DERISO: John Lennon, who would have been 68 today, might not recognize the dissipated, agonizing figure heard howling for lost love here. After all, Lennon subsequently reunited with that lost love, had a son, quit the business for five years during the late 1970s then returned with some of the most melodic, contented sounds of his solo career. That [...]

The Beatles, just as their creativity went supernova, quit the road in 1966 — frustrated over the inability of that period’s sound systems to amplify the increasingly complex work spinning around on your turntables and in their heads. Later, of course, each of the individual members revisited the band’s seminal works. But never again did they take the stage together [...]

NICK DERISO: A still-resonant tune with biting introspection, John Lennon’s “I Don’t Wanna Face It” begins with the smeared sound of a tape machine engaging — this powerful reminder that “Milk and Honey” includes the incomplete, posthumous recordings a murdered genius. Even so, you’ll find that all of the parts are still there, though they are scattered about, in this [...]

NICK DERISO: None of them were better apart, but never was this more true than with Ringo Starr. See, the other Beatles, in turn, could typically find the pitch-perfect note for Ringo — and his best work, within the band and without, always had their fingerprints on it: The aptly titled “With A Little Help From My Friends” (McCartney), of [...]

NICK DERISO: The Beatles have seldom recorded live performances of the 1960s songs that made them most famous. First, they stopped touring 40 years ago at the height of their popularity, and long before such studio triumphs as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band,” “The White Album” and “Abbey Road.” Even after their breakup, the Beatles’ individual members rarely have [...]