George Harrison and Paul Simon Performing on “Saturday Night Live” (Duet of the Day)

In November 1976, Paul Simon hosted “Saturday Night Live,” creating some magic when he performed with that night’s musical guest, George Harrison.

On November 20, 1976, two of the generation’s greatest singer-songwriters appeared together on Saturday Night Live, Paul Simon and George Harrison. Each of them was nearly seven years from their most famous partnerships with other artists. Simon and Art Garfunkel had ended Simon & Garfunkel in 1970. Harrison’s last last recording session with the Beatles was in January of 1970.

In November 1976, America had just elected Jimmy Carter president in the aftermath of the country’s large Bicentennial celebration in July. Paul Simon was still riding high from winning the Grammy for Album of the Year for Still Crazy After All These Years in February. And Harrison was appearing on SNL to promote his latest album that had been released one day earlier, Thirty Three & 1/3.

Simon was the host of the SNL episode and Harrison was listed as the musical guest. But Harrison appeared in one of the funniest moments in SNL history when in the cold open he was negotiating with producer Lorne Michaels.

The negotiations were in reference to the earlier April 24, 1976 episode where Michaels made an offer to pay the Beatles “$3,000 to reunite” on his show, a play on a concert promoter who had offered the group $50 million to reunite. On the November episode, Harrison was seen as disappointed he could not collect the money on his own.

Another classic humorous segment on the November show featured Paul Simon in a ridiculous turkey costume as he started singing “Still Crazy After All These Years.”  While many remember these very funny performances, it is often forgotten that the two also created two great musical performances.

Harrison and Simon’s SNL Performances

Regarding musical performances, the two legends joined forces in two touching moments. While not talked about as often as the classic comedy performances on that particular show, the two men joined together for touching performances of two songs. One of the tunes was written by Simon and the other was writen by Harrison. And they both had been originally released many years earlier, so they already were recognized as classic songs in 1976.

Below is George Harrison joining Paul Simon on his song, “Homeward Bound.” The song originally appeared on Simon & Garfunkel’s album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966).

And here, Paul Simon helps George Harrison on one of his great songs originally recorded by the Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun.” The song originally appeared on Abbey Road, released in 1970.

After SNL: The Late 1970s

Of course, the two men would go on to many more great songs and performances. After the SNL appearance, Simon would release a greatest hits album in 1977 but would not release another proper solo album of original material for several years until 1980’s One-Trick Pony. During the years between SNL and that album, Simon did various projects, including working on several acting roles perhaps building off of his SNL hosting energy. And then on September 19, 1981, Simon joined again with his old friend Art Garfunkel for their concert in Central Park.

Regarding Harrison, in the immediate years after the SNL appearance, Harrison stayed mostly focused on his music. The following January, Harrison released a song that would become a hit for him, “Crackerbox Palace” (a video of which was shown on the SNL episode). And then in 1979, came another album, George Harrison (with the hit single “Blow Away”), coming after his second marriage and the birth of his son Dhani. Like Simon’s break from recording new music in the late 1970s, in the early 1980s Harrison would also start to withdraw from releasing music for awhile, focusing on other aspects of life and dealing with the 1980 loss of John Lennon. He released Gone Troppo in 1982 but no more albums for five more years after that.

After Simon and Harrison each took their own break in some of the years after their SNL appearance, though, they each returned to release some of their most acclaimed work starting in the late 1980s. Simon released Graceland in 1986, followed by other work like The Rhythm of the Saints (1990). Harrison released his platinum album Cloud Nine in 1987, following it up with his popular work with the Traveling Wilburys.

Regarding Saturday Night Live, Simon appeared on SNL many times after the 1976 episode with Harrison. For example, he performed “The Boxer” to open the first SNL episode after the September 11 attacks. He even did another duet on “Homeward Bound,” this time with Sabrina Carpenter for the opening of the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special on February 16, 2025.

Unfortunately, George Harrison never appeared again on SNL after the 1976 episode with Simon.

But we still have that magical night in November 1976 when George Harrison and Paul Simon made us laugh with their acting and touched us with their music.

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“Song Sung Blue” Stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson As a Neil Diamond Tribute Band

“Song Sung Blue” stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in true-life story about the life struggles of a Neil Diamond tribute band.

Song Sung Blue (Focus Features)

Saving Silverman leaves a big challenge for a Neil-Diamond-Tribute-Band movie. But Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson make the upcoming Song Sung Blue (2025) look like it has some potential.

Song Sung Blue is based on a true story about the struggles of a couple who formed a Neil Diamond tribute band called Lightening & Thunder. The film is written, co-produced, and directed by Craig Brewer. From the trailer, it looks like much of the film will focus on the struggles of the two characters with some lively Neil Diamond scenes.

The couple’s story was previous told in a 2008 documentary, also called Song Sung Blue. The documentary was directed by Greg Kohs.

Check out the trailer for the documentary below.

The Jackman-Hudson vehicle Song Sung Blue will be released in the U.S. on December 25, 2025.

Until then, if you need some Neil Diamond, here he is during the closing credits of the goofy comedy Saving Silverman (2001). I wonder if he will appear in Song Sung Blue?

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Stephen King’s “The Life of Chuck”: A Few Thoughts for Those Who Haven’t Seen the Film . . . and a Few for Those Who Have

“The Life of Chuck,” based on a Stephen King novella, is a heartfelt movie that has several things going for it even if it does not quite reach the stars.

From the reviews and various online comments, one may see that people are somewhat divided about the movie The Life of Chuck (2025), based on a 2020 novella by Stephen King. Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, and Mia Sara star in the movie, which was written and directed by Mike Flanagan. The film also includes narration by Nick Offerman.

The film is marketed as a feel-good movie in the vein of the heartfelt films based upon King’s other works like Stand By Me (1986) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Few movies can reach those heights, of course, and it is better to think of The Life of Chuck as something of its own.

The Life of Chuck is one of those movies better seen without knowing too much about it. So, below I provide a short review for those who have not seen it, followed by some thoughts for those who have seen the movie.

For Those Deciding Whether to Watch The Life of Chuck

So, should you watch The Life of Chuck? While I did not find the entirety of the film a great movie, I did appreciate its ambition in presenting the story of an ordinary man in an extraordinary way. If you are looking for something a little different with a little bit of heart, you should watch it without reading too much more about it. All you need to know is that it is a movie looking at someone’s life and doing it in a somewhat unusual (and non-chronological) way.

If you do not like movies with sentiment, then you might instead go watch an action movie. But it also may depend on your mood. Those in a certain mood or stage of life — perhaps feeling frustrated with the world — may like many others find the movie a wonderful respite with scenes that will stay with them.

There are movies that are middle-of-the road popcorn films that are entertaining to many people. But those movies do not stay with you. The Life of Chuck might be one of those movies that stays with you. So if you are willing to take a little gamble with two hours of your life in the hopes that it might pay off , go for it.

For Those Who Have Seen The Life of Chuck

The following discussion contains some spoilers if you have not seen the movie.

Act III, the first segment of the film, was truly wonderful. But that is a problem, as the rest of the movie could not live up to that section.

Act III captured the end-of-the world feeling many of us has felt since the pandemic, as presented in other movies like Don’t Look Up (2021), Leave the World Behind (2023), and Knock at the Cabin (2023). Those movies, like Act III in The Life of Chuck, wonderfully portray how many of us feel with a world turned upside down during much of the last decade. Another plus in Act III was that Chiwetel Ejiofor, always a great actor, created a character that interested me more than any of the iterations of Chuck.

And then when the movie went into Act II and introduced us to Chuck with the dance scene, it is a bit of a shock. And even though the brief section where we see the adult Chuck played by Tim Hiddleston also presents an interesting character and a nice dance sequence, we again do not seem to get to stay with the interesting character long enough before going to the next act.

One of the joys of watching the movie is finally figuring out on your own what Act III was about. As others have explained, that first part of the movie shows inside Chuck’s head as he is dying. And the movie has beautiful moments, including the dances and the connection throughout the movie of Walt Whitman’s line “I contain multitudes” from Song of Myself.

The storyline about the locked attic in Act I almost seemed like a throwaway attempt to add a Stephen King supernatural element. But the film does a good job tying together that storyline with the rest of the movie. As we have discussed elsewhere and as explained in books such as Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death, when one lives with an awareness of their mortality, they may live with a special purpose. And we see a glimpse of that where 17-year-old Chuck looks at his future and vows to live his life because he contains multitudes. And then the movie ends, somewhat abruptly.

In conclusion, the movie suffers because the most interesting section was the first section, so the rest of the movie never matches that section. The opening is well-paced, letting us get into the story, but by the time we get to Act II and then Act I, those sections feel rushed, as if they are focused on explaining things rather than developing character or telling a story. Maybe the movie would work better in some ways if it in chronological order, starting with the young Chuck? But then the movie would not have the story (or gimmick?) that lets us make connections on our own.

All of that said, I love ambitious movies, and I was glad I watched Life of Chuck. Yes, the heartfelt story was not as life-changing as some recent movies like About Time (2013), a movie that more successfully questioned how we live our lives. But I did find enough in The Life of Chuck that I felt compelled to rewatch the movie again the next day.

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Kasey Chambers With Ex-Husband Shane Nicholson: “The Divorce Song”

Kasey Chambers and her ex-husband Shane Nicholson recounts the bond that can develop between exes in “the Divorce Song.”

In 2024, the great Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers released her first album in six years, Backbone. On one of the tracks from that album, she is joined by her ex-husband Shane Nicholson on “The Divorce Song.”

Understandably, songs about divorce are usually sad songs. For example, one of the greatest divorce songs is Tammy Wynette’s recording of “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.” That song, written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, recounts a mother talking about her impending divorce but spelling out key words so her four-year-old son does not understand what is happening.

By contrast, Kasey Chambers’ “The Divorce Song” takes a humorous and touching look at two ex-spouses. The song captures the unique friendship that can eventually develop from two people apart who once were married.

Chambers and Nicholson previously released the album Rattlin’ Bones in 2008 and the album Wreck and Ruin in 2012. I loved those albums, so I was sad to hear the two singers had parted ways and that we might not hear any future collaborations.

But sometimes the end is not the end. And now we have Chambers’s and Nicholson’s sweet voices touching us once again with a little bit of humor

It’s a long road to get to the gold;
We made it through paper and wood;
We couldn’t survive as the marrying kind,
But we do divorce pretty good.

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“There’s No End to Grief, That’s How We Know There’s No End to Love”: The Story of U2’s “One Tree Hill”

U2’s Bono wrote the song “One Tree Hill” about grief and loss, inspired by losing his friend Greg Carroll.

In 1984, U2 had just arrived in Auckland, New Zealand from a long 24-hour flight for The Unforgettable Fire Tour. It was late, but Bono was restless and could not sleep due to jet lag. And so he went out into the city that night, meeting some locals, including a man named Greg Carroll, who had been hired as a stage hand by U2’s production manager. Carroll and the others took Bono up a volcano called One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie), which is spiritually significant to Māori people.

After the Auckland show, U2’s manager recognized that Carroll was very helpful at the show and ended up hiring him for the rest of the tour. Over time, Carroll became good friends with Bono and his wife.

Then in July 1986, Carroll was doing a favor for Bono by taking his motorcycle home when he was killed in an accident. The band was devastated by the loss of their friend, with some of them later noting the accident gave many of the young men their first real experience with death.

At the time of Carroll’s death, U2 was working on the songs that would become part of The Joshua Tree album. Later, Bono noted that Carroll’s death ” brought gravitas to the recording of The Joshua Tree. We had to fill the hole in our heart with something very, very large indeed, we loved him so much.”

One Tree Hill

Bono wrote the lyrics for the song “One Tree Hill,” which would eventually appear on side two of The Joshua Tree, about grieving the loss of his friend Carroll. He started writing the song after returning from Carroll’s funeral in New Zealand. The song references Bono’s first experience with Carroll on the volcano called One Tree Hill.

The band developed the music while jamming with Brian Eno. The lyrics reflect the grief one feels over a loss. In the song, Bono sings:

I’ll see you again,
When the stars
Fall from the sky;
And the moon
Has turned red,
Over One Tree Hill.
We run like a river
Runs to the sea;
We run like a river
To the sea.
And when it’s raining,
Raining hard;
That’s when the rain will
Break my heart.

One verse of the song refers to Chilean political activist and folk singer Víctor Jara, who was tortured and killed during the 1973 Chilean coup d’état. “Jara sang his song,/A weapon/ In the hands of one;/Though his blood still cries/
From the ground.” U2’s bass player Adam Clayton has explained that with the reference to Jara, “One Tree Hill” forms a trilogy of songs with “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “Mothers of the Disappeared” that illustrate Bono’s anger at the involvement of the United States in the Chilean coup.

During The Joshua Tree Tour in 1987, the band did not initially perform the song because Bono did not think he could sing it due to his grief over Carroll’s death. But eventually the band played the song periodically, and they had even recorded a performance for the Rattle and Hum documentary, although the performance was not used in that film.

In the 2017 performance of “One Tree Hill” in Cleveland below, Bono gives a powerful performance following an introduction about the song’s meaning to the band. He talks about Carroll and explains how everyone faces similar losses.

He leads into the song by stating, “There’s no end to grief, that’s how we know there’s no end to love.”

And that is the Story Behind the Song “One Tree Hill.”

Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via Youtube.

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