The 5 Priciest Albums of All Time

Lucy O'Donnell, nursery school classmate of John's son, inspired Beatles hit

(NEWSER) - Lucy O’Donnell, the girl who supposedly inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney to write “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds,” has died of lupus at age 46. Though the song was controversial when it debuted on Sgt. Pepper for its purported reference to LSD, Lennon’s eldest son Julian has said it was inspired by a picture he drew of O’Donnell, his nursery school classmate, in 1966. More»

CDs showcase Fab Four as they were meant to be heard

(NEWSER) - The Beatles just got better: every one of their original albums and a batch of collected singles has been remastered, boosting the quality to the level “the Beatles themselves would have heard and intended,” writes Matt Hurwitz in the Washington Post. The stereo CDs remind us that the Beatles were a “rock band”: these recordings pack a punch not heard on the older discs. More»

Bob Dylan's Christmas album is just the latest in a long line

(NEWSER) - Bob Dylan’s decision to record a Christmas album is certainly ill-advised—“fans may have stuck by him throughout the musically self-destructive late '60s, the God-bothering late '70s, and the Grateful Dead-collaborating-Madonna-imitating mid '80s, but surely even Bob's fans have a limit,” writes John Matthew Hall for the Independent. But Dylan’s not alone; Hall offers up the worst disasters in rock and roll careers, from John Lennon to Michael Jackson: More»

(NEWSER) - In honor of Woodstock—which happened 40 years ago this weekend—and the “seminal documentary” that captured it, John Farr shares his list of the 10 best rock concert/performance films—all of which are “meant to be played loud,” he writes on the Huffington Post. “So crank it!”

• A Hard Day's Night (1964): “The disarming charisma and spontaneous energy of the Beatles made no traditional plot necessary. It was sufficient to portray a day in the life of the world's most talked about rock band.”

Memorabilia displayed in city he loved

(NEWSER) - A new exhibit of John Lennon memorabilia includes a bloodied hospital bag holding the clothes he wore the night he was shot to death, reports the Guardian. The bag is the most jolting display of the new show launched by Lennon's widow at the Manhattan annex of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "John came back to me in a brown paper bag. I want the world to know that," said Yoko Ono. More»