All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!!

[G-Dog]

... ... came up with some of the key changes within their songs. "Mr. Kite" just blows my mind in that respect ... ... knew how to capture what he was after ... .... Can't help but wonder how much of the chord structure in that song came from Lennon, McCartney and George Martin.

I think you've hit on the real secret ingredient, the actual 5th Beatle! Like Brian Epstein cleaned up their stage image, I believe George Martin did a whole lot more to clean up their musical presentation than is generally known. I'm looking to get his book, "All You Need Is Ears", to see just what all he admits to in that.
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[Mike JV]

I think you've hit on the real secret ingredient, the actual 5th Beatle! Like Brian Epstein cleaned up their stage image, I believe George Martin did a whole lot more to clean up their musical presentation than is generally known. I'm looking to get his book, "All You Need Is Ears", to see just what all he admits to in that.
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One thing I know George Martin is responsible for is the into to "Can't Buy Me Love." He said he didn't like how Paul came right in with the first verse. He told Paul "you've got a good hook here, let's use that in the beginning." So Sir George came up with the intro for them.

 

[G-Dog]

One thing I know George Martin is responsible for is the into to "Can't Buy Me Love." He said he didn't like how Paul came right in with the first verse. He told Paul "you've got a good hook here, let's use that in the beginning." So Sir George came up with the intro for them.

You're so right, Mikie.

And I was at once both impressed and disappointed to learn that GM played the piano solo on "In My Life"! This webpage makes a very strong case for George Martin being the 5th Beatle: A Song-by-Song Look at What Made George Martin the Fifth Beatle

So, I've added a link to this webpage on our All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!! Wiki page linked in my signature. Lemme know what else to add there.
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[yodedude2]

And I was at once both impressed and disappointed to learn that GM played the piano solo on "In My Life"!

at half speed...

 

[G-Dog]

... ... I was at once both impressed and disappointed to learn that GM played the piano solo on "In My Life"! This webpage makes a very strong case for George Martin being the 5th Beatle: A Song-by-Song Look at What Made George Martin the Fifth Beatle

So, I've added a link to this webpage on our All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!! Wiki page linked in my signature. Lemme know what else to add there.
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at half speed...

Yeah, dude. The half speed recording trick was part of the disappointment*. That, along with "an outsider" playing it just seemed like such a cheat! I mean, The Beatles were such a self-contained combo band on stage; writing, playing, singing so much good music "all by themselves". I mean, you never saw a 5th musician onstage with them before Billy Preston on the rooftop, did you?

[ *BTW, I was also disappointed to read that the guitar solo to "Hard Day's Night" was recorded at half speed and doubled on piano by GM! But, then, I was glad for that explanation of why I couldn't play it satisfactorily! I even saw a video where GH flubbed it live! "Aha! They are human after all!" But then I saw other videos where GH nailed it live. Well, I can live with being a frustrated lead guitarist. ]

But, then, I finally realized, they used lots of other musicians to play lots of other instruments, such as violin, viola, cello, UB, french horn, piccolo trumpet, etc. And GM often literally wrote the sheet music for the arrangements of those other musicians/instruments, and not just the "made up and recorded" kind of "wrote", either. How fortunate that this talented little band should have an ongoing relationship with such a hugely talented, yet monumentally humble, producer/musician! One could only imagine how different they definitely would have been without George Martin.

The "Let It Be" album without GM is an indication of how badly they needed him, since it took over a year to whip into shape, of sorts, and release. Glad they "Got Back" with him for "Abbey Road" as a more glorious swan song of an album.

Disagree? Lemme hear it! Come on! Let's talk about it. "We can work it out". "Try to see it my way . . . . "
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[beans-on-toast]

I think you've hit on the real secret ingredient, the actual 5th Beatle! Like Brian Epstein cleaned up their stage image, I believe George Martin did a whole lot more to clean up their musical presentation than is generally known. I'm looking to get his book, "All You Need Is Ears", to see just what all he admits to in that.
.

I think that George served to make Beatle recordings less dated in the long run. Listening to bootlegs of outtakes, one example is some of Harrison’s guitar parts were removed or changed in a much better way.

When George’s book came out, I enjoyed reading it.

Not long after, my wife and I were sitting in a downtown flower garden behind an office tower. There were two other people across the way that I recognized as George Martin and his wife. It was a quiet place and a lovely afternoon. I sat there telling my wife all about the book with a big grin on my face. We got up to leave, the only path out took us by them. George seemed to tense up and it looked like he was saying, here they come. I didn’t have the heart to disturb him, he had given me so much. He said good afternoon, I replied with the same in passing. That was it. As we walked off he turned to me with big smile and nodded. He was thanking me for not disturbing him and his lady wife.

I never regretted doing what I did. I would have loved to talk to him, especially after just reading his book. I had a lot of questions. It was a small gift on my part to them. The least I could do.

It turned out that he was in town consulting on a film.

 

[G-Dog]

I think that George served to make Beatle recordings less dated in the long run. Listening to bootlegs of outtakes, some of Harrison’s guitar parts were removed or changed in a much better way.

When George’s book came out, I enjoyed reading it.

Not long after, my wife and I were sitting in a downtown flower garden behind an office tower. There were two other people across the way that I recognized as George Martin and his wife. It was a quiet place and a lovely afternoon. I sat there telling my wife all about the book with a big grin on my face. We got up to leave, the only path out took us by them. George seemed to tense up and it looked like he was saying, here they come. I didn’t have the heart to disturb him, he had given me so much. He said good afternoon, I replied with the same in passing. That was it. As we walked off he turned to me with big smile and nodded. He was thanking me for not disturbing him and his lady wife.

I never regretted doing what I did. I would have loved to talk to him, especially after just reading his book. I had a lot of questions. It was a small gift on my part to them. The least I could do for them.

It turned out that he was in town consulting on a film.

Gee, you weren't staring at him, or anything, were you, beanie?

Well, I think you showed remarkable restraint. I don't think I could've have done that. I'da prolly babbled incoherently at each of them and had to be pulled off by Security. Then I'da spent the rest of my life redressing what I shoulda said instead.

Yep. Good thing I've never bumped into anyone famous. I think, in full fan mode, I would be who restraining orders were invented for.
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[beans-on-toast]

Gee, you weren't staring at him, or anything, were you, beanie?

Well, I think you showed remarkable restraint. I don't think I could've have done that. I'da prolly babbled incoherently at each of them and had to be pulled off by Security. Then I'da spent the rest of my life redressing what I shoulda said instead.

Yep. Good thing I've never bumped into anyone famous. I think, in full fan mode, I would be who restraining orders were invented for.
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You had to be there to know that the moment wasn’t right. Famous people often dislike dealing with fanboys. They have to do enough of that. Folks enjoy talking about simple things in life other than the business.

 

[Mike JV]

A good friend of mine saw them in '64 at the now long gone Olympia Stadium in Detroit. This was an 18,000 seat venue. He said he was dead center and about 100 feet from the stage. Said the "PA" on each side of the stage was about the size of a Marshall stack. He said when they walked out on stage the screaming was so loud it was like standing next to a jet engine at full throttle and the place was ablaze with flash bulb from peoples cameras.

As far as what he could hear: couldn't hear Ringo's drums or Paul's bass. Every once in a while he could catch a vocal line but added it sounded very muted. As far as the guitars he could hear George and John "just enough" here and there to know what songs they were playing but added even that was a bit difficult at times. He said they played for about 25 minutes and it was the most amazing 25 minutes he ever experienced.

Another fried of mine saw them at Shea Stadium. He was up in the nose bleed section and said he had no idea what songs they played until he saw the TV special. Said he couldn't hear a thing when he was there. I guess what Ringo said was true. "You didn't go to hear the Beatles, you went to see the Beatles."

 

[G-Dog]

A good friend of mine saw them in '64 at the now long gone Olympia Stadium in Detroit. This was an 18,000 seat venue. He said he was dead center and about 100 feet from the stage. Said the "PA" on each side of the stage was about the size of a Marshall stack. He said when they walked out on stage the screaming was so loud it was like standing next to a jet engine at full throttle and the place was ablaze with flash bulb from peoples cameras.

As far as what he could hear: couldn't hear Ringo's drums or Paul's bass. Every once in a while he could catch a vocal line but added it sounded very muted. As far as the guitars he could hear George and John "just enough" here and there to know what songs they were playing but added even that was a bit difficult at times. He said they played for about 25 minutes and it was the most amazing 25 minutes he ever experienced.

Another fried of mine saw them at Shea Stadium. He was up in the nose bleed section and said he had no idea what songs they played until he saw the TV special. Said he couldn't hear a thing when he was there. I guess what Ringo said was true. "You didn't go to hear the Beatles, you went to see the Beatles."

It's reports like this, and my own experience at the HDN movie, that have put me at peace with never having seen them in person. Much like major sporting events these days, I got a better view, sometimes even closeups, on TV! There was no "on demand" or video recordings to playback back then, but the occasional glimpse on TV was pretty good, while playing their records.

Cable, MTV and VHS videocassettes finally opened up a great new world in the '80s. Of course I bought HDN & Help! as soon as they were available. And although I don't remember seeing The Beatles on MTV, 'cause they were already ancient history by then, the other music groups were interesting. And other cable channels occassionally showed their movies or documentaries, though very rarely MMT. Not at all like these days with everything instantly available on the 'net.

Speaking of which, how about the new Peter Jackson version of "Let It Be" coming this fall?

peter jackson let it be - Google Search​

I've never seen the whole old version. When the VHS version came out, the reviews and articles turned me off it. Didn't wanna see 'em arguing, which seemed to be most of it, huh? Though I did want to see the rooftop concert, from what I read it was cut very short! So, I'll get the 4K version of this new one this fall, and hope for lots of extended bonus features! Eh, better late than never.

What do y'all think?
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[beans-on-toast]

Recent news here,

 

[Mike JV]

Like most people, I've just seen bits of the Let It Be film online. As far as their arguing over things, they had pretty much had it at that point in time. So it was very real and honest. Although it's pointed out that the new film does capture a lot of good moments that weren't shown in the original film. Yeah, I'd like to see the new version.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I have a copy of The Let It Be film. Watching the movie and listening to hours of bootleg audio from the sessions, I never felt the negativity that so many associate the era with. I suppose that I was just so happy to have any Beatle material. For those that are interested, Let It Be is (or used to be) available on Youtube, it was split into multiple parts.

Speaking of Beatle movies, years ago I attended a showing of A Hard Day’s Night at a film fest. What made it really neat was the director, Richard Lester was there. He gave a talk then we watched his personal copy of the film. It was quite an experience to sit with him in the first row watching the film. A nice man who was very generous with his time.

 

[beans-on-toast]

There are people that want to nail Beatle sounds. This video about a fretless guitar is very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc8hZfdwQd0&feature=youtu.be

 

[beans-on-toast]

I think that the best Beatles cover band is The Analogues. They are based in Holland and do major tours. They have two live albums on ITunes (more on their web site but the price is nuts) but have a new six record deal so more will come.

Their youtube videos are great to watch. They excel at reproducing the sounds. Geoff Emerick was very impressed by them.


See his comments herehttps://www.facebook.com/theanalogues/videos/148966189386765/


Here is their Sgt. Pepper concert.

 

[Mike JV]

Trying to momentarily get away from all this virus stuff by adding some more fun here.
I wish I could remember where I read this. Perhaps someone else here knows where.

According to Sir Paul, it's amazing to think how close the Beatles came to never being.
According to Paul, after WWII, England had their equivalent of the draft and all who were able had to report for duty when they were 20 years old . Take your pick: you serve in the military for 2 years or you go to jail for 2 years.

Ringo turned 20 in July of 1960 and John turned 20 in October of 1960. According to Paul, the draft was abolished shortly before Ringo turned 20. Had the draft been in effect both Ringo and John would have been gone followed by Paul almost 2 years later and then George about a year after that.

Perfect timing, luck or divine intervention? You tell me!

 

[MAJOR METAL]

I love this picture of Paul & John!

 

[chupacerveza]

I think that the best Beatles cover band is The Analogues. They are based in Holland and do major tours. They have two live albums on ITunes (more on their web site but the price is nuts) but have a new six record deal so more will come.

Their youtube videos are great to watch. They excel at reproducing the sounds. Geoff Emerick was very impressed by them.


See his comments herehttps://www.facebook.com/theanalogues/videos/148966189386765/


Here is their Sgt. Pepper concert.

The Eggmen, here in Austin, are pretty dang good too. I used to see Jimmy Carl Black and the Grandmothers play some awesome Beatles covers here too.

 

[consectaneus]

Someone put up and isolated bass of the whole Abby Road album. I recently learned the part for Here Comes The Sun, and it's so much fun and melodic and inventive (yet the construction is simple and makes so much bass sense) that I quickly realized I need to get into a LOT more of Paul's playing. I am thinking about trying to do the whole album just for fun and education and ear training.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Someone put up and isolated bass of the whole Abby Road album. I recently learned the part for Here Comes The Sun, and it's so much fun and melodic and inventive (yet the construction is simple and makes so much bass sense) that I quickly realized I need to get into a LOT more of Paul's playing. I am thinking about trying to do the whole album just for fun and education and ear training.

I’ve been playing along to the whole album for years.

For the thread...