Communism, Hypnotism, and The Beatles

About 5 years ago, I came across this cover of a pamphlet from 1965, entitled "Communism, Hypnotism, and The Beatles".

I thought it was humorous & ridiculous, so I've had it sitting in my emails, but never posted it. Recently, on BoingBoing I saw more about this weird convergence between the rise of rock n' roll and the "Red Scare".

BoingBoing posted a link to a PDF of the full pamphlet, and also a YouTube video with an audio version & lecture by the author himself, David A. Noebel (who sounds like a really fun guy...).

The Beatles are definitely my favorite band, and I believe they were geniuses who were unparalleled in music history. They were a huge influence on my Dad, when he was a kid in the 1960's. The first band that he joined emulated the style & sound of The Beatles. He exposed me to the amazing catalog of music The Beatles produced when I was very young. So, I grew up appreciating the wide range of styles & creative depth of their work. 

Therefore, when I hear people like Noebel talk about the music of The Beatles as 'subversive', 'communist infiltration' or 'mind control', I immediately feel revulsion at the simple-minded dismissal of their artistic brilliance.

After reading the pamphlet, his main premise appears to be that The Beatles music "hypnotizes" the listener through specific beats and other harmonic effects that alter the nervous system. Yeah, well, no shit! The purpose of music is to effect the nervous system and the energies of the body. Where Nobel goes off the deep end is to claim that The Beatles music was specifically engineered by communist scientists, to warp the minds of the Christian youth & destroy Western culture.

Back in the Dark Ages of the presidency of George W. Bush, I used to get pamphlets by Lyndon LaRouche denouncing Bush, Cheney, & their neoconservative cabal. He also denounced The Beatles, claiming they were part of a Satanic social engineering program. This was something I just couldn't jive with, regardless of how much I agreed with the rest of his rhetoric against the corrupt government and elite.

These old-school, uptight jerks are just looking to divide everything into a simplistic view of "good" vs. "evil".  They are always looking to find an enemy in things they don't agree with. It also seems that they cannot comprehend the forces that move artists to create work that resonates and moves the masses. They dismiss this powerful creative influence as "mind control", that must be orchestrated by some nefarious, behind-the-scenes puppet masters.

Now, I'm not saying that there are no people or groups attempting subversive or downright evil influence through art & entertainment. There are definitely people with manipulative and even malicious agendas in control of various aspects of society. However, I think it's ridiculous to say that The Beatles were controlled by such a motivating factor. If anything, they were actually trying to open people's minds and break the cultural programming that so many other forms of media perpetrate.

They definitely helped expand my own mind to new ideas & modes of creativity. They are one of my biggest inspirations and have been a positive influence on countless people, especially musicians, spiritual seekers, and other artistic personalities. To say they were some kind of malevolent and corrupting force is just ignorance of the worst kind.

The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show

50 years ago, The Beatles came to America & performed on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.

This was an event that truly made music history & has influenced people ever since, whether they know it or not. From an early age, my Dad, Big Paul, impressed upon me the greatness of The Beatles & their music. Half a century after he saw this live on TV, with so many millions of other people, I was with my Dad watching The Beatles Grammy special tonight.  It was an excellent tribute to this legendary band.

It's clear that this 1st appearance of The Fab Four in America defined the baby boomer generation, almost as much as the Moon landing or any other event. They not only changed the musical landscape of the time, but also had a huge effect on pop culture in general. They would go on, in their relatively short career, to break all kinds of ground in creative & technical artistry.

Anyone with any music knowledge recognizes The Beatles as the greatest band of all time. Their impact on the world cannot be overstated, and their genius will be apparent for as long as their music endures. 

YouTube:

The Beatles

Here is a video of all their legendary appearances on the Ed Sullivan show:

It's hard to pick out favorites among The Beatles many great songs, but here are a couple of mine:

"In My Life"

"Within You, Without You"

The Beatles Tribute at The Vault

*Fun Fact: This is my 2000th post here on The Monkey Buddha blog, since I started it back in June 2005! It's been a "long & winding road"!

Last weekend, I went with my family to The Vault at Victor Records. It is a small club that also holds an archive of master recordings of classic music.

Talented musicians Graham Alexander, Zachary Harski, and Keith Hohing form a tribute band that plays the music of The Beatles live, faithfully recreating the sound of the studio tracks using all types of instruments and techniques.

I've been there previously to see a show featuring songs from Revolver & Rubber Soul. This time, we went to a show celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' Abbey Road.

The band is awesome and it was as close as getting to hearing The Beatles play live as I'm ever going to get. Hearing a band play the music live gives a whole new dimension to these amazing songs, and gave me a deeper appreciation for their genius.

As a teenager, my Dad was in a band called Black and the Blues, and was highly influenced by The Beatles, so I grew up being indoctrinated with The Fab Four's music. I think any musician or person with a knowledge of music history would have to recognize the undeniable impact they had on music & the world.

If you live in or near southern New Jersey and love The Beatles, I would highly recommend coming to see one of these shows.

Here are some pics from the show:

Here's a clip of the band playing "Here Comes the Sun," which is the song my wife Loretta walked down the aisle to during our wedding ceremony:

Imagine

The message hasn't been lost... but the world can nevertheless be a real hellhole.
We could use more insanely idealistic hippies with a powerful mind & voice these days:




There's been alot of new 'Beatlemania' recently w/ the release of Beatles Rock Band & their remastered albums.

I'm usually really bad w/ dates, & time in general, but I've always remembered Dec. 8th for being Jim Morrison's birthday & the dayt John Lennon being killed. Maybe they're easy for me because it's also my brother's birthday, but the anniversary of John Lennon's death hasn't stopped affecting people around the world.

Thanks to my Dad, I've always been a fan of The Beatles & Lennon in particular. His sarcastic but creative insight made him one of my personal idols. It's a shame he couldn't live on to futher inspire the world, but such is life & death. His light shone bright while it lasted.

Favorite Musicians

I have the TV on in the other room playing
VH1's 100 Greatest Artists Countdown.

I'm a sucker for any showcase of random good music.

Picking my favorite music artists is a tough task because I like pretty much all genres of music, except country. It's probably easier to pick my top 3 than my top 10 because there is so much music that I love.... rock, electronic, hip-hop, jazz, ambient, pop, whatever....

Although legends like Michael Jackson & Elvis are undeniably great top artists, they aren't my personal favorites. At this particular moment, I'll rank my top 10 like this:

1. The Beatles
2. The Doors
3. Bob Marley & The Wailers
4. Jimi Hendrix
5. Guns N' Roses
6. Notorious BIG
7. Pink Floyd
8. Rolling Stones
9. Sade
10. U2

Anyone who denies that The Beatles are the greatest band ever is an ignoramus. Beyond that, it's all subjective.

One artist who was on the Top 5 that I can't stand is Bob Dylan. Personally, I just don't enjoy listening to his music at all. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Other than that, the Top 20 final picks were pretty good.

Egypt- Power to the People

John Lennon: Power to the People

According to all the news reports, Egypt's President Mubarak has fled the capital of Cairo- leaving the top military officials in charge of reforming the government.

Mubarak Steps Down In Egypt

Nobody knows how this will turn out, & it could lead to disaster instead of democracy.

However, the Egyptian people's massive display of non-violence, courage, and unyielding perseverance in the face of oppressive tyranny is awe-inspiring. For many people in that country, this is the probably the first time they've had any sense of power or voice in their entire lives.

Other people throughout the world will see this outcome and also demand reform.

The old systems of control are not sustainable, and those who cannot tolerate the breakneck pace of coming change will be completely overwhelmed.

For good measure in light of current events, another Beatles counter-culture classic:

The Beatles-Revolution

John Lennon Animated Interview

I posted the other day about my favorite Bush Hatin' Hip-Hop Videos. I said how different the style of these rappers compared to protest music of the 60's. No artist since I've been alive has remotely compared to the most influential counter-culture figure of that time, John Lennon.

My Dad had me listening to the Beatles since I was old enough to know what music was. If I could only listen to music from one group of artists, it would be the Beatles. John Lennon's political and artistic efforts outside the group have always inspired my world outlook.

At Infographics.com, I saw this amazing Youtube video of an animation illustrating a 14 year old's informal, yet insightful, interview with the legendary icon. The boy, Jerry Levitan, grew up & now has a website I Met the Walrus for the Academy Award nominated animated short film.

There are so many profound & witty quotes in this little bit of tape- it shows what an amazing mind John Lennon had. It also shows why the forces of death had such an interest in eliminating him.


"War is big business.
They like war, because it keeps Them fat and happy.
I'm anti-war, so They want me out."

"Violence begets violence."

"They got all the money and the weapons. They now how to fight the violence. They've been doing it for how many years suppressing us. The only thing They don't know about is nonviolence & humor."

"We're all Hitler inside and we're all Christ inside.
It's just to try to work on the good bit of you"

"Oh I see, well, those kids-
they sound like squares."

"The messages are all there on all levels...
It's about everything... It's about nothing...
It just is."

"Monkey Man" by The Rolling Stones

I always liked The Beatles more than the Stones, but there are a few of their songs that I really like.

I hadn't heard "Monkey Man", though, until I got Sirius Radio within the past few years. Now it's obviously my favorite Rolling Stones song. If Monkey Buddhism had a hymn book, this would definitely be in it.

This is a video to the classic tune- showing monkeys & apes in nature, and their less-refined relative in the White House.

Black And The Blues- "I'm Sad"

 
When my Dad (Big Paul) was a teenager in the 1960's, he formed a band with his childhood friends. The first band he was in was called "Black and the Blues". Their big influence was The Beatles, at the height of "Beatlemania".

My Dad and some of the other guys went on to play together in other bands, too. Some of my earliest memories are of seeing my Dad playing music with "Snuffy" or "John, Paul, Kat Band".

He still has some of the vinyl single records they had pressed. I used one of the records in a collage that I made for him for Father's Day. It had old photos of "Black and the Blues," that his friends had shared on Facebook.

One of the band members, Chuck, came across their single, "I'm Sad" that someone has digitized & uploaded to YouTube. The person who uploaded the song also added some vintage 60's footage, that gives it a music video feel.

My Dad is a very laid back guy. However, when my brother & I showed him the YouTube video, he lit up & was amazed that someone had put their old single on the Internet.

Here are some other YouTube links to where the song has been uploaded:

Black and The Blues - I'm sad (teen garage)

Black & The Blues - I'm Sad (1966)

Black & the blues - I'm sad

Now, my father & his friends have achieved digital immortality, and their memories & music will hopefully live on into the future.

The "Black and the Blues" band members were:
• John Carnuccio
• Chuck Emma
• Paul J. Micarelli
• Charlie Pestritto

Here's a "Then & Now" pic of the band, from after they got together in 2014:

Front to back: Charlie, Paul, Chuck, & John

My Dad's friend Chuck, another member of Black and the Blues, brought to my attention the fact that a live cover of the song was also on YouTube.

The band, The Kumari, is from the UK and did a cover of the song at The Purple Turtle Bar. My Dad & his former bandmates were amazed that, not only did anyone know about the song, but that a modern-day band bothered to learn & perform it.

Paul Micarelli & Loretta DeStefano Wedding

 Loretta DeStefano & Paul M. Micarelli

Photo by Won Yang of Yang Photo Studio

My last post was right after the private, legal marriage ceremony to my wonderful wife, Loretta.

Last weekend, we had our public wedding ceremony & reception for family and friends at The Old Mill in Rose Valley, PA.

We had been planning the wedding for a year, with the help of our awesome parents. We had a vision for what we wanted, & all our hard work paid off. We both wanted a nature-themed wedding, with an outdoor ceremony.  I love the outdoors, and Loretta shares this affinity for the natural world with me.

The whole day went absolutely perfect. Everything looked great, the decor that we created and ordered was exactly what we envisioned, the music was all our choices, our ceremony was beautiful, & most importantly, there was no major drama during the wedding!

There were a few monkey wrenches thrown into the works, like the record 100º heat that was not the best conditions for a full tuxedo! It was also tough to realize I couldn't spend more time with all the people who came to be a part of this special moment. We had over 130 guests, and I did try to bounce around and talk to as many people as I could. It's impossible to have a long conversation with anyone, though.

We wanted to start the night off with everyone hyped up, so after our slow dance ("And I Love Her" by The Beatles) we played "Turn Down for What" by Lil' Jon and got the whole room dancing right away. Everyone said they had a blast, and we had many people telling us it was the best wedding they'd ever been to, which is what we wanted people to experience. It is humbling to realize that there are so many people who I'm deeply connected with, and now that circle has grown with the people in Loretta's life.

This past week, we were on our honeymoon in Cape May, where we stayed at an excellent bed & breakfast called Rhythm of The Sea. We sat on the beach & drank scotch, went out to eat every night, and had some much-needed rest & relaxation.

This has been a time in my life that I am grateful to experience, and will never forget. I am married to an exceptional woman, who I've know for many years & consider my best friend. The wedding was our way to publicly express and spiritually symbolize the love that connects us.

Here is a photo album with a bunch of great pictures that I and our families took. When I get the album from the wedding photographer, I will share that too:

Wedding Photo Album:
 Paul Micarelli & Loretta DeStefano Wedding
July 1, 2018 

at The Old Mill in Rose Valley, PA

American Masters: LENNONYC

I just finished watching a documentary about John Lennon on PBS.

PBS:
"American Masters: LENNONYC"

My Dad started playing music when he was a kid because of The Beatles. As a result I became knowledgeable of their music at a young age. John Lennon in particular was always a major creative & philosophical influence of mine.

The more I've learned about his activism over the years, the more I've come to admire his use of his ridiculous level of fame to advance a positive agenda to improve humanity. The realist in me thinks it's hopelessly naive to consider world peace to be even a remote possibility. However, I think his efforts were supremely noble- and it shows in the way the world remembers him.

"He was an artist.
Why would they want to kill an artist?"
-Yoko Ono

"Black and the Blues" Band Reunion

This past summer, I went to a reunion jam for "Black and the Blues," the band that my Dad and his childhood friends formed in the 60's.
 
They were influenced by the mid-century icons of rock n' roll and, of course, the band that influenced the entire generation- The Beatles.

From the top: John, Chuck, Paul, & Charlie

Anyway, the get together was alot of fun. The guys were jamming on an impromptu set of songs, while our families filled the house listening, singing, and clapping along.

My brother Justin took video of the event, and he recently uploaded the songs to his YouTube page. Here is a link to the playlist:

 MicPros Videos:

Black and the Blues Reunion 

They performed an original song that was published in 1966 that I posted about before- "I'm Sad"

The "Black and the Blues" band members:
• John Carnuccio
• Chuck Emma
• Paul J. Micarelli
• Charlie Pestritto

Music Musings

I listen to any & all types of music... except for country.

The reason I love Sirius satellite radio is that I can switch between artists as widely varied as The Beatles, Notorious BIG, Norah Jones, Armin van Buuren, Radiohead, Marvin Gaye, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc, etc.

I often have particular songs playing over & over in my head for any given period of time. Recently a few songs have been on a repeating loop in my mind.

I was a teenager in Middle School when 'grunge' music was the big thing. I bought Nirvana "Nevermind" the day it it came out (on cassette tape, ha!) Pearl Jam's "Ten" was also a favorite album of mine at the time. I heard this recent Pearl Jam release from their album "Backspacer" over the weekend & can't get it out of my head:

"Just Breathe" - Pearl Jam

I also love jazz & R&B, and Sadé has long been one of my favorite female artists. She has so many great songs & is still amazing at 40.

She performed the new song "Soldier of Love" on TV recently & since I heard it the song has also been stuck in my mind. The video is a little crazy, but Sadé is simply one of the best recording artists, period.

Sadé - "Soldier of Love"

Moving onto the hip-hop front, I like the new remix Snoop Dogg's "I Wanna Rock" w/ Jay-Z. However, the "Green Remix" of the song is horrible.

Snoop Dogg f/ Jay-Z "I Wanna Rock"

iPhone Free Apps: Top Picks

Since getting an iPhone, I've been able to browse the App Store to find downloads that may be fun, useful, & informative.

I'm not really into too many games, since I'd rather play on a larger screen. Some of them are pretty good, though. Reading on the iPhone is actually not bad, & I'm currently reading the version of "Thoughts on Life & Art" by Leonardo da Vinci in iBooks.

I am starting to work on getting my own game app developed, for the award-winning strategy game I created as a college student, "Da Vinci's Challenge™" The gameboard is a pattern of circles known as the Flower of Life, that was studied by Leonardo in his codex drawings. I have been downloading other  Da Vinci based material to help inspire this effort. Now that I am able to check out apps & their capabilities, this project is one of my top priorities now.

In order to share the time I personally spent picking quality apps, I'm making a quick (nevermind, this took me awhile) list of ones I've downloaded to date. I've only gotten free ones for now, & they're in the categories I use to group them.

Probably one of my favorite apps is Relax Melodies, which is a wonderful ambient noise generator. I love using it!  Although I don't really have trouble sleeping, having relaxing background noise is really nice sometimes.

Fun
• Forge of Neon - draw cool glowing mult-dimensional designs, with details you can zoom into & rotate.
• Mandala Lite - this is a cool colorful fractal kaleidoscope in motion
• Shark Fingers! Free - my little nephews & friends' kids love this. You touch the screen & sharks start "biting" your finger & the water turns red w blood. Crazy.
• SpinArt Free
• Sci-Fi Sounds

Games
• Genesis Free - I've only played a little of this game but its very engaging. You manipulate beams of light to hit all the planets, which burst into color & activate sounds.
• Beatles Trivia - I downloaded this while I was showing the phone to my Dad & we played a round. Some of the questions were tough even for him.
• Fun Blast Trivia Lite - As a trivia buff, I'm inevitably going to try this type of game.
• Logos Quiz Game - As a graphic designer, this is a must-have.
• Top Gear Stunt School Revolution - fun stunt driving game
• Atlantis Oceans Free - kind of fun, but is also tough
• Hungry Shark Part 1+ - I literally just downloaded this but it's entertaining, you just eat everything in sight.

News
• Pulse - a great customizable visual news feed that can be organized into categories
• Reddit's Alien Blue

Reference
• Red Cross First Aid - the obvious medical emergency reference
• Wikipedia
• Google
• Yellow Pages - very useful
• Global Convert - indispensable unit conversion
• Drinks & Cocktails - encyclopedia of stuff that will get you drunk
• SAS Survival Guide Lite - outdoor survival
• Minipedia - an offline encyclopedia with varying amounts of data you can store
• How to Tie Knots
• Stellarium - this app boggles my mind & makes me feel I'm truly living in The Future. You point your phone at the sky & it tells you what stars & constellations you are looking at.

Utilities
• Flashlight
• Magnifying Glass w Light - see details closer than the human eye can discern
• Find iPhone - if someone is dumb enough to steal my phone, or if I'm dumb enough to lose it, this will help me find it.
• Multi-Measures - a neat toolkit with metronome, stopwatch, timer, seismometer, ruler, surface level, teslameter, plumb bob, protractor, etc
• Google Translate - an amazing app that confirms my lazy refusal to learn other languages.

Navigation
• Waze - an innovative, community-based navigation app that shows all kinds of relevant traffic info, along with it's turn-by-turn directions. This is what I'll use, at least until Apple releases their app.
• Google Earth - just a virtual planet, that's all.
• Official NJ State Parks & Forests Guide - a great app for people here in NJ who enjoy the outdoors
• Official PA State Parks & Forests Guide - ditto for PA
• Sierra Club Trail Explorer - great app from America's most well-known nature advocates


Art
• Musée du Louvre - an awesome timeline of artwork from the Louvre's collection.
• Leonardo da Vinci -
• Impressionism HD Free - a nice collection of beautiful paintings by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, & more.
• National Gallery in London HD - another great digital art collection
• Artmatch - using the iPhone's capabilities to recognize & catalog interesting art

Spirit
• Buddha Quotes 500
• iDharma
• Tao of Wisdom - a nicely illustrated version of the Tao Te Ching
• A Seeker's Journey
• Daily Zen Enlightenment

I'll probably post lists of new apps as time goes on, but these are ones that I think are worth getting so far.

Big Paul's Adventures in History III

I have alot of photos of my Dad sleeping in many different chairs on many different occasions. He has worked hard in the food retail business all his life, but when he gets a chance to sit down & relax it usually turns into a snoozefest. Family events or holidays inevitably become napping opportunities for the big guy.

My old friend Dan J. gave me the idea to have him sleeping right through important times in history. I thought this idea was hysterical & created this series of "snapshots" showing Big Paul experiencing historic events in his own special way.

This is the third set of of "adventures" as he sleeps his way through history, & I definitely have enough photos of my Dad passed out for at least one more set:

"Big Paul's

Adventures in History"

"Big Paul's Adventures in History"
"Sgt. Pepper" Photo Shoot
My Dad loves the Beatles, but not enough to stay awake during their photo shoot.

"Big Paul's Adventures in History"
State of the Union 2010
Joe Biden & Elmo join my Dad for a patriotic nap during President Obama's speech


"Big Paul's Adventures in History"

Tiananmen Square Protests
The rumbling of advancing Chinese tanks is completely drowned out by my Dad snoring.

The U.S. Vs. John Lennon

I posted awhile ago about a trailer I saw for a documentary "The US vs. John Lennon".

The U.S. Vs. John Lennon trailer

IMDB:
The U.S. Vs. John Lennon

Tonight I was over my parents' watching the whole documentary with my Dad. He raised me & my siblings on The Beatles. The older I get, the more I realize what a great creative mind John Lennon was. I've always considered him an inspirational figure, but learning about his political activism continues to amaze me. He was willing to stand up & take on the most powerful forces on Earth, the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about, and the United States government.

The documentary was captivating because Lennon was such a genius and a provocative personality. My Dad & I were discussing the craziness of the day... and how the craziness going on today is so similar. We also noted the lack of any current activist leaders with the idealistic focus, powerful international attention, and cutting intelligence that made him such a threat to the Nixon administration.

The Nation

"The U.S. Vs. John Lennon"

Watching the impossible fight he took on for human ideals & peace, as well as the numerous parallels between then & now, helped me get fired up tonight to rant in my last post.


Watch The U.S. vs. John Lennon in Music | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com