Beatles fans are all familiar with the "Paul is dead" urban legend. The rumors, which surfaced in September of 1969, claimed that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a double. Despite the fact that McCartney gave an interview to Life magazine in November 1969 stating that he was "very much alive," the whisperings of his death 44 years ago have never quite died down.

Labor Day weekend, the film Paul McCartney Really is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison makes its East Coast debut in National Harbor at Abbey Road on the River, which bills itself as the world's largest Beatles festival.

The film starts in the summer of 2005, when a package, sent from London with no return address, arrived at the Hollywood offices of Highway 61 Entertainment. Inside were two cassette tapes dated December 30, 1999 and labeled “The Last Testament of George Harrison.” The voice relates that McCartney was killed in a car crash in November of 1966. British intelligence, MI5, forced the Beatles to cover up McCartney's death and replace him with a double in order to prevent mass suicides of Beatles fans. "Harrison," who died in 2001, also claims that John Lennon was assassinated in 1980 because he threatened to expose the cover-up.

Reaction to the trailer on YouTube has been decidedly skeptical. A sampling:

"this is incredibly disrespectful to george harrison, may he rest in peace."

"What a load of shit! that doesnt sound a thing like george harrison!"

"Any real Beatles fan will know that is certainly not George Harrison's voice."

The unauthorized documentary, which, according to the press release, "may prove to be the most important document in rock and roll history," debuts Friday, September 3, with a screening and Q&A session with director Joel Gilbert. The film will subsequently be on view Saturday, September 4 and Sunday, September 5.

National Public Radio is no longer. Don't worry, it's a change in name only–you'll still hear Renee Montagne and Steve Inskeep as you wake up in the morning. The D.C.-based organization will now officially go by its familiar acronym: NPR.

The two remaining Beatles reunited last night during Ringo Starr's 70th birthday concert at Radio City Music Hall. Paul McCartney took the stage with a rendition of "Birthday," from the White Album.

Mel Gibson, why don't you just take your millions, build yourself a nice compound, and go into self-imposed exile? You're not only a racist, but now you're a practitioner of domestic violence? Well, your ex "fucking deserved it," after all. You are a terrible person. Seriously.

It's fashion week in Paris, let the crazy couture begin. Skunky bouffants, 5-inch neon heels, and nun-inspired fashion are all here. And these women are considered fashion icons because...?

Capital Fringe opens tonight! Check out all our obsessive coverage here. The Gypsy Tent's open 'til 1:30 a.m., so even if you have to work late, you've still got plenty of time to check out all the action afterward.

"Man on Bridge," Bob Dylan, 2009

*Bob Dylan paints his masterpiece? Theoretically. El Bard is set to debut some paintings based on his "Drawn Blank" series of sketches from the early '90s. TO WIT: "Man on Bridge" (right; acrylic, 2009).

*Related: The Guardian has a neat little slideshow of Dylan's Nov., 2007 exhibit at the Chemnitz Art Gallery in eastern Germany.

*Not quite related: Student trips into 1904 Picasso at the Met, tears 6-inch hole, inspires Independent retrospective, "Art Attacks: From vomiting on Mondrian to elbowing Picasso." Sort of cool!

*The Who releases Super Bowl set list, more or less. "It's quite a saga," Pete Townshend tells Billboard. Actually, it looks like Townshend's more or less pulling a Petty—no "A Quick One (While He's Away)," or, for that matter, "Boris the Spider." Still, at least Billboard isn't harping on the proposed boycott.

*Ticketmaster, LiveNation merger going through after all.

*Beatles, Wu-Tang Clan, together at last.

Just in time for Halloween comes creationist and cool dude Mike Huckabee's jolly Christmas memoir...

God, what a snarky intro. Tough to write about this because, as an agnostic (how can anybody be anything else?), I don't like to knock those who believe One Tuff Jew died and rose again in ye olde ancient times. Then again, Christ rarely helps me when I'm drawing to an inside straight, or when I'm trying to make a straight flush to beat another player's obvious nut flush, and he certainly never helps me make a higher straight flush against a lower straight flush which, as He should know, would be a hand that would qualify for the bad beat jackpot in most American poker rooms.

So, rather than spew some jokey vitriol about Huckabee, I'd rather present five nuggets of received wisdom I unearthed whilst skimming A Simple Christmas. So, if you hate Huckabee, you can smile at how stupid these nuggets are and, if you like Huckabee, you can appreciate the fuck out of this blog post because I've done the hard work for you.

1. "[God] had sent prophets, given very explicit written instructions, and even blurted out some pretty loud pronouncements on top of mountains...but even though His voice was probably even louder than an Aerosmith concert, people kept being, well, people." (xix)

2. "...the Huckabee side of the family originated in England, around the Liverpool area, and the name means 'people of the hill.'...I was hoping I might be related to Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, or Ringo Starr, but if there's any connection, they have long since paid to cover it up." (56)

3. "I...had Fender build a Jazz Bass exactly like the one I had when I was a teenager. They sit side by side next to my desk now, and seeing them makes me feel seventeen all over again. Then I stand up and realize I'm not seventeen!" (31 – emphasis and exclamation point in original).

4. "...the fact that I had graduated from high school made me the Starship Enterprise of my family – I had gone where no one man had gone before." (177)

5. [...was going to take something from chapter about's Huckabee's wife's battle with cancer, but it's actually pretty intense.]

In January Richie Unterberger  was at the Library of Congress discussing his book The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film.  Now he is back, tonight, Monday August 3rd at the Library to talk about his new detail-packed, 368 page book, White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day (I have not seen it yet).  According to his own website, Unterberger drew “on about 100 interviews [he conducted] and exhaustive research through documents and recordings rarely or never accessed…”  Unterberger is promising on his website that he will feature rare audiovisual material from throughout the Velvet Underground's career at the Library of Congress presentation. 

Monday August 3rd at 7 P.M–writer Richie Unterberger at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg., Pickford Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Call 202-707-7833 for details.  The Pickford has only 60 seats.

In advance of today's show at the 9:30 Club with Gregory Isaacs, I spoke with Easy Star All Stars co-founder Michael Goldwasser [pictured above, seated]. Goldwasser, as producer, musical director, arranger and guitarist, has been the driving force behind the Easy Star All Star tribute efforts. Those releases have included Radiohead and Pink Floyd tributes, and their recent Beatles tribute, Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band.

Black Plastic Bag: You've covered 3 albums by British groups. I'm assuming that its a coincidence, but do you intend to cover say an American group? If so, anyone in contention so far?

Michael Goldwasser: It is a coincidence on one level – we didn't set out to adapt albums by British groups. But there is a strong connection since Jamaica is a former British colony and is very influenced by that in some ways. Also, a lot of my favorite reggae is from the UK. In terms of adapting an album by an American group, that certainly could happen, but we are more focused on finding the right albums to work on and are less concerned with the group behind the album.

BPB: Do you think your method could work in reverse, say a straight up rock band covering Bush Doctor or Catch a Fire?

MG: I'm sure that it could work, and I'd love to see someone take that on. A big part of our mission is bridging the gap between cultures, and a rock band covering a reggae album could go a long way towards that, especially if it was a major act. But I think that a lot of the power of reggae comes from the actual music, so I'm not sure how compelling Catch A Fire would be without those reggae vibes. But I'd like to find out.

BPB: Do you start on an album to cover and find later it's uncoverable and ditch it?

MG: I've started working on the arrangements for some albums, only to find that they were not working well enough to go all the way with. We don't want to settle for OK; we only want to do these albums if we feel that they can be really great.

BPB: Did you listen to any previous Beatles covers to get a sense of what worked and what didn't?

MG: No, I didn't want to influence myself, even subconsciously. Luckily, most of the songs on Sgt. Pepper's had not been covered in reggae yet anyway.

BPB: Did the success of Dub Side of the Moon give you confidence to continue along the path of covering classic records?

MG: Yes, definitely.

BPB: Any word from Sir Paul, Ringo or Apple? What about the other bands you've covered?

MG: We've sent out to everyone in the Beatles camp, but no word back yet except from their publishers, who really love it. We've had positive reactions from David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and all of the guys in Radiohead. Thom Yorke even gave us props from the stage during a Radiohead concert, which was really great. As the producer, it's very gratifying to know that the original artists like what we've done with their music.

BPB: What was the hardest element to convey from Sgt Peppers?

MG: I was concerned with doing justice to the orchestral parts in "A Day In the Life" – that's some pretty iconic stuff right there. But by adding a string section to the rest of the band, and then overdubbing them many times, I think that we pulled it off. A lot of people have told us that it's their favorite track on the album.

BPB: The attention to fidelity and high quality sound is a hallmark of your recordings. What steps are taken in the studio to produce such rich sounds?

MG: Thanks! Well, we operate in a somewhat old-school manner when it comes to recording and mixing. The basic tracks are all recorded to 2-inch tape, and we take care to use as much analog equipment as possible. We do a lot of the recording at Capture Sound in Brooklyn, which has a great live sound. I do dump the tracks to Protools for ease of editing, but the mixing is all done live through a great board with a lot of vintage outboard gear. This album was mixed at Studio G in Brooklyn, which had everything that we needed in that regard. We also use a great mastering engineer, Jeff Lipton at Peerless in Boston. But maybe the most important aspect is that we really try to take our time to get things to sound right. Even with the limited budgets that we are working from, I know that if I plan well and have as many things worked out ahead of time as possible, then we've got a good shot of achieving what we need.

BPB: Circling back to the first question, can you give any hints on what album is next for the Easy Star All Stars?

MG: Sorry, I really can't. We want to surprise everyone when we finally announce the next one to the world. But rest assured, we're not going to do another one of these albums unless we find the right album to do.

The Easy Star All Stars perform with Gregory Isaacs Thursday night at the 9:30 Club. Doors open at 7:00 pm and tickets are still available for $25.

With a Little Help From My Friends – Easy Star All Stars

I struggled with my approach on reviewing the newest from the Easy Star All Stars—Lonely Hearts Dub Band. There are as many Beatles covers floating around as there are batshit crazy Heather Mills quotes. Most aren't worth the time, though this tribute to Rubber Soul had its moments and this compilation from the Atlantic and Warner jazz vaults is superb.

Reggae cover albums offer their own set of challenges. As on the recent epidemic of bluegrass cover records (see Pickin' on U2), it takes more than applying a different musical style to produce a transcendent cover. Think more "Johnny B Goode" and less "I Can See Clearly Now".

However, both of the Easy Star All Stars' previous tribute projects, Radiodread and A Dub Side of the Moon are superlative deconstructions of the source material rebuilt into tight yet expansive riddums. Dub Band is different in that the original Sgt Pepper's is so omnipresent. The Easy Star All Stars are able to surmount this challenge by injecting new energy into tracks like the opener and "With a Little Help From My Friends", songs rendered flaccid by relentless classic rock airplay. Guest vocalists adorn Dub Band, with reggae royalty Steel Pulse shinning through on "Good Morning, Good Morning".

The production is in front like the other releases. I'm anxious to hear it on vinyl, since the sound was deep and rich for an MP3. "When I'm Sixty-Four" listens especially well, taking on a trippy bass and reverb-washed feel. The only knock I have on Dub Band is that they didn't end the album closer, "A Day in the Life," with the sound of four simultaneous bong hits.

With a Little Help From My Friends

When I'm Sixty-Four