The Star(r)s Align: Falling Edition

A look back at a time that might've only existed thanks to social engineers in high places

The music world has seen setbacks, uncertainty, and chaos since the start of the supposed medical re-set in 2020. Mark Crispin Miller’s substack has done a superb job of outlining the deaths, so there’s zero point in rehashing that here. A corpse-laden den of drummers, keyboardists, flutists, an endless array of bass players, a marching razzmatazz of rhythmic rappers, a pile of woodwind section members….yes, very safe and effective. The cancellations alone have been legion.

So it was with some trepidation - - and nostalgia to boot - - that I decided to attend the show of one Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band in Niagara Falls in September.

Turns out, I got lucky. In keeping with the barrage of performance-art cancellations which started in 2020, ol’ Ringo was no exception. But my concert went totally as planned. In fact, he struck out from his schedule numerous big shows right after I saw him at Niagara, with numerous prior gigs during the C19 years canned due to mysterious illnesses, medical emergencies, etc.

When you’re a kid, the star(r)s shine down on you in amazement every night as you consider the supposed supernatural and organic “talent” of men who are presented to you on the podium, whether that podium is a stage, a political rally, or whatever. When one looks at the history of The Beatles from the standpoint of an adult of course, nothing makes sense - - as they equally don’t when looking back at the military/intelligence connections of bands like The Doors, this time with a new set of eyes. The extreme change in musical style, clothes, appearance, morals, ideals and image at the close of 1966 was as likely to be “organic” for The Beatles as the emergence of some…global pandemic. Thinking about their apparently gibberish lyrics 1967-70, infused with LSD and more than a hint of aimlessness, I’ve come to reluctantly conclude that everything was planned: every word which doubled as a clue to what actually happened, every album cover which had a nefarious purpose and contained elements of social engineering aimed at young people, every TV special of the time which was calibrated for subliminal and often frightening images (see: the Magical Mystery Tour film). Going beyond the oft-quoted and tedious examination of the “I buried Paul” voice at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” the online research community has advanced leaps and bounds past any and all conventional narratives about The Beatles for likely a decade now. Not only has it been concluded that the making of Rubber Soul in its finished form would’ve been completely impossible for them to record during its official schedule, it has been shown conclusively that most of the music was probably laid down by a revolving slew of entirely different musicians prior to the group coming in and singing the lyrics on top of the finished tracks. This not only goes for Rubber Soul but also, regrettably, for much of their catalogue prior to Sgt. Pepper (1967-onwards is a more complicated matter). And even there, if we accept Paul McCartney’s statement during a [much] later interview that George Harrison was likely “off building a pool somewhere” during the Pepper sessions, we start to develop a much more discerning ear as to who actually played what during the whole career of the Fab Four.

The walk beside the Falls turned into a downright psychedelic landscape thanks to the blue lights being thrown straight into your face amidst the rain.

Thankfully, once we’re past the stardom, the blitz of the band and the often hypnosis-inducing trail of diamonds-in-the-sky fantasies, we can pretty much use some auditory common sense to elucidate that something is clearly amiss. Does anyone really think the drummer for “I Me Mine,” doing perfect tempo changes and blazing fills which Ringo Starr would never have been capable of and never played on any other Beatles tracks, is the same as the drummer who plods through any number of their other late 60’s songs? What about the brisk beat of “What Goes On?” Listen closely to how precise, how clinical and exact that beat is, not like Ringo at all. You can call me names and say I’m spoiling your dreams of the past, but in reality I don’t give a damn. I’ve wanted the truth, and nothing but the truth, since at least 2019. So let’s proceed further. Who actually laid down the drums for “Dear Prudence?” Hint: believe it or not, in 2024 we still can’t say with certainty. Analyzing any number of other tracks will reveal inconsistencies in the style of playing across all instruments. This is without even touching on the extremely disturbing voice analysis, done as early as 1969, which shows that the man who sang “Yesterday” could not have been the same man who sang “Hey Jude” or “Penny Lane.” Since seasoned Beatleologists will know exactly where I’m going with this, I’ll just mention that body doubles have been used with remarkable effect on everyone from Josef Stalin to Robin Williams, with people scarcely noticing the difference. The fact that people did not notice, is a testament to the effectiveness of this practice. I remember hearing “Have A Cigar” by Pink Floyd for the first time, and then many times over. Not once did it occur to me, that the singer was not any one of the official Pink Floyd members. Only as an adult did I realize that Roy Harper is actually the guest vocalist on that track. Funny how perception works, right?

As Eddie Bravo reminds us, just “look into it.”

The insinuations above are very difficult for someone like me who’s still a Beatles fan to 1) accept, and 2) fully internalize, but the evidence for this is not only plentiful but rock-solid.¹ Yet what’s even harder to grasp, and Come Together over if you will, is the fact that the Beatles agenda and rock music as a whole was just the beginning of the plan for where we find ourselves today. And no one with a brain in their heads would say that today’s youth are in tip-top shape, dancing in some Octopus’s Garden in the shade.

I found myself thinking about all this as the show started at the Fallsview Stage. The best moments, as I knew they would be, were the songs where Ringo sang lead vocals as he did in the 60’s. Except as a child, I would’ve exclaimed: “It’s him! It’s him!” As a 36 year old man, I sat in my seat thinking: “Is it him??” Certainly he’s the best-looking 84 year old I’ve ever seen, but the CIA made some utterly convincing face masks even decades ago. On this point, I concluded it was best to just listen to the music for once. One thing is undeniable: the musicians are really an all-star cast in Ringo’s ensemble, and were a joy to experience live, being extremely technically capable sometimes even across multiple instrument categories. Hell, even Ringo’s vocals weren’t bad, and, of course, the lad summoned some grooves from his kit once more.

For those few moments, everyone was back in the 60’s again - - “peace,” whatever it meant, was in the air: everyone knew all the words, everyone remembered what they were doing when they first heard those songs, and everything seemed possible……err, sorry, I meant everything seemed possible for people who grew up with their music orginally, when grainy footage from some supposed lunar rock was taken as fact and American prosperity would never be awakened from its, shall we say, Golden Slumbers. As for myself, I was grateful for the experience but was also just content with heading out into the falls on the boat, and the day before that, seeing a downright immaculate rainbow present itself right in the middle. A fireworks show completed the trip in the evening.

It was like some Silver Hammer was raining down from the Gods with cantankerous blows, trying to finally beat into us the capacity to fully enjoy the moment for what it was.

1. For anyone wondering about supplemental reading for this, the work of Mike a.k.a “Sage of Quay” Williams can easily be found online and should fill hours upon hours of reading, watching and internalizing complex and uncomfortable truths about the Fab Four. Williams has gone above and beyond anyone else in this capacity, especially as it relates to the impossible timeline of Rubber Soul and other albums.