When I picked up a copy of The Spectrum on Monday, Dec. 3, I expected to see a front-page article and accompanying picture about George Harrison. Instead, there was the shocking, breaking news that "Local Retailers Still Bustling Despite Economic Downturn."
While I understand the dire importance of how much business Old Navy is reporting, I couldn't help but feel a little strange that I had to look at the very bottom of page three to read what The Spectrum had to say about the passing of one of the most important guitarists in history.
Oddly enough, The Spectrum had nothing to say about George Harrison. Instead, a less-than-mediocre article from the L.A. Times was reprinted. After reading this article, the L.A. Times should either find a new rock critic or The Spectrum should be more selective in choosing which articles to reprint.
After reading through the article, I almost lost count of all the things wrong with it. Not that the facts were incorrect, but the tone, insight, and some of the statements were incorrect and inaccurate. The most disturbing sentence appeared in the second paragraph: "Harrison warned us that all things must pass, but we never imagined that it would pertain to the members of the Beatles." There are so many things wrong with this statement; I don't know where to begin. First, saying that "we never imagined it would pertain to the members of the Beatles" is asinine. The album title "All Things Must Pass" was a blatant reference to the recent breakup of the group. It was supposed to pertain to the members of the Beatles. Second, the phrase "All Things Must Pass" was not meant as a warning. It was a term of acceptance, telling people that nothing lasts forever.
Robert Hilburn describes the assassination of John Lennon as "a tragedy as unlikely as the plane crashes (even though it was the same one plane crash) that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, or the self-destructiveness that ended the lives of Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin." It was unlikely that self-destructive behavior would end the lives of Presley and Joplin? It was anything but unlikely that Joplin and Presley died the way they did. A tragedy? Yes. Unlikely? Not at all.
Hilburn also says that "his passing is the most sobering reminder to anyone who sang along to 'Penny Lane' or 'Hey Jude' that, indeed, all things must pass." Anyone who sang along to "Penny Lane" or "Hey Jude" would know that both of those songs were written by Paul McCartney, and had next to nothing to do with George Harrison. "Penny Lane" was an exercise in surrealism, with Harrison using a childhood memory of Liverpool to relive nostalgia. "Hey Jude" was written for Julian Lennon, John Lennon's son from his first marriage to Cynthia.
Furthermore, why didn't The Spectrum have someone write an original obituary, rather than reprinting the flawed L.A. Times article? Time constraints? I think a well thought out obituary could be held up until Wednesday when the subject matter is this significant. If the editors of The Spectrum need someone to write about this sort of stuff, give me a call. I'm around. And I always have something to say.
