All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!!

[Wulfensteiner]

George Harrison is the one who I seem to relate to the most. He was forever writing crazy stuff that when all was said and done, his ears were bigger than his hands. That's a me.

 

[RedVee]

Being born in 62 with no elder siblings, I first met the Beatles through the TV Cartoon series. Roll Over Beethoven was my favourite song.

Of the under appreciated songs, well I like all the ones mentioned so far !

But to push that out a bit, I’ve recently started really enjoying Savoy Truffle. I dunno, but it just a has a certain undefinable ‘something’. That’s my underappreciated track.

 

[nixdad]

My first memory of The Beatles was hearing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on the radio in my grandparents backyard by their pool on a sunny summer day in 1964. I would have been about 2 1/2 years old at the time. My older brother also played Beatles albums regularly in our house in the late 60's.

I started playing music in the late 70's with a few of my best friends who just happened to be huge Beatles fans. We noodled around in the garage for a few years, and our first real band took off in '79. These guys could sing as well, so songs from The Beatles, Beach Boys, Eagles, etc., were all a part of our regular set list. We even did a few "Beatles only" performances in makeshift black suits in the early 80's (we had the Rickenbackers, Gretsch CG & a '63 Hofner.) Some of the guys even performed a few times at Beatlefest! All of this Beatle activity turned me on even more to the music, their songwriting, and the brilliance of Paul McCartney.

Fast forward - I've been an acoustic/electric Beatles band with these same buddies (and other close friends) since 2012, and man has it been a blast! We only have the opportunity to perform a handful of times each year due to my bandmates' busy schedules (we typically do 6-10 gigs a year,) but playing with these guys has been an absolute treat. Some of my favorite bass lines to play are Hey Bulldog, Penny Lane, Nowhere Man, A Day in the Life...there's so many! McCartney's attack, multiple techniques and feel are such an integral part of the songs and really added to the music.

Here's a live video of our band performing Nowhere Man:


Thanks for starting this fun post!

 

[Rumble Thunder]

She's leaving home is the first and only song i can think of that by itself changed my mood.

In college i took an archeology class. The oldest human discovered at the time was called Lucy, after the song LSD.

I just listened to " She's Leaving Home." What a powerful track. It really stirs you up. McCartney is hitting these tremendous highs while Lennon is hitting you with those eerie, contemplative phrases. A chilling song. The "bye byes" are brilliantly genuis.

 

[Rumble Thunder]

Years ago I was in a guitar/bass/drums trio with two brothers, who were huge Beatles fans. We'd play 'suits' Beatle tunes, and decided we'd work up a letter-perfect 'You Can't Do That'. Randy had the 12-string Ric, and aside from having to combine George's and John's guitar parts, otherwise we had it note-for-note, right down to the grooves on the 45 almost. One of the few times I worked up a tune in a band exactly as played in the recording, but I still think that one tune so long ago was the most fun I ever had playing on stage.



I'm old enough to have seen them on Ed Sullivan in 1964 (I was nine years old). My life was ruined right there and then, I wanted to do THAT !

Man, that video was killer!
It looks like Lennon is actually playing the guitar solo while Paul and George are singing? I never knew John took a solo on the guitar.

I didn't get to see them on Ed Sullivan (I wasn't born until 1965 ) but I can bet watching them that night was a game changer!!

 

[Rumble Thunder]

Being born in 62 with no elder siblings, I first met the Beatles through the TV Cartoon series. Roll Over Beethoven was my favourite song.

Of the under appreciated songs, well I like all the ones mentioned so far !

But to push that out a bit, I’ve recently started really enjoying Savoy Truffle. I dunno, but it just a has a certain undefinable ‘something’. That’s my underappreciated track.

The cartoon series!! Awesome!!
I'll have to try and YouTube it and see if there are any episodes on there.
I just listened to Savoy Truffle...sweet!!
Good one and totally under the radar. Nice tune. You are right, it has that something I think you'll understand

Btw Roll Over Beethoven is one of my earliest Beatle memories or just plain memories for that matter.

 

[InnerBass]

I appreciate your priorities. I was never so disappointed as when I saw a band of young musicians with great Beatles costumes, but either felt they had to put their own interpretations into the music, or else didn't get it at all. I had to leave before finding out which.

I guess I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I don't go for most "tribute" performances that depart far from the original sound. An exception is Joe Cocker. I like his "Bathroom Window" and his part in the movie "Across the Universe".

The one I had to practice a while on was singing and playing bass on Getting Better. It’s a really syncopated line and it took me a bit......but I have it dialed now

 

[Alkali Ike]

She's leaving home is the first and only song i can think of that by itself changed my mood.

In college i took an archeology class. The oldest human discovered at the time was called Lucy, after the song LSD.

The 50th anniversary remix of SLH sounds incredibly good. The entire remixed Peppers is exceptional.

 

[sigterm]

Without Billy they wouldn't have lasted. Way better than Paul, and really if you consider his story no one should ever complain about the hoops they had to jump through to make the audition.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I had an original stereo first pressing of A Hard Days Night, on the United Artists label, not Capitol. Also the original mono first pressing of Introducing The Beatles on Vee Jay records. I stupidly sold them to a used records store for like $1.50 during my digital madness phase.

Look at this:

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Rumble Thunder]

My first memory of The Beatles was hearing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on the radio in my grandparents backyard by their pool on a sunny summer day in 1964. I would have been about 2 1/2 years old at the time. My older brother also played Beatles albums regularly in our house in the late 60's.

I started playing music in the late 70's with a few of my best friends who just happened to be huge Beatles fans. We noodled around in the garage for a few years, and our first real band took off in '79. These guys could sing as well, so songs from The Beatles, Beach Boys, Eagles, etc., were all a part of our regular set list. We even did a few "Beatles only" performances in makeshift black suits in the early 80's (we had the Rickenbackers, Gretsch CG & a '63 Hofner.) Some of the guys even performed a few times at Beatlefest! All of this Beatle activity turned me on even more to the music, their songwriting, and the brilliance of Paul McCartney.

Fast forward - I've been an acoustic/electric Beatles band with these same buddies (and other close friends) since 2012, and man has it been a blast! We only have the opportunity to perform a handful of times each year due to my bandmates' busy schedules (we typically do 6-10 gigs a year,) but playing with these guys has been an absolute treat. Some of my favorite bass lines to play are Hey Bulldog, Penny Lane, Nowhere Man, A Day in the Life...there's so many! McCartney's attack, multiple techniques and feel are such an integral part of the songs and really added to the music.

Here's a live video of our band performing Nowhere Man:


Thanks for starting this fun post!

I love these stories!!!!!
Thanks for sharing that killer video. You guys are awesome. What a fun gig, I bet you are having a BLAST playing those gigs.
So, what did your grandparents think about, I Want to Hold Your Hand? Did they think it was nonsense? It's amazing that you were only 2 1/2 years old but remember the where and when you heard that unmistakable and utterly distinctive sound of the Beatles! You ever remember the weather. Amazing.

I've heard Hofners are fun to play but I have never played one. I do definitely dig my 4003 Rickenbacker. I love playing that thing and it sounds like an absolute beast.
Thanks for sharing that post, I really enjoyed it. What is your Beatle gig set list? Do you all play She Loves You or Please Please Me?

 

[kartiste]

Haven't read this entire thread yet, so forgive me if this has been mentioned already. There is terrific resource on Beatles music by musicologist Alan Pollack, which can be found here: Alan W. Pollack's Notes on ... Series.

I especially encourage those who slag off the early songs to check this out. There was something interesting going on in pretty much every song.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Haven't read this entire thread yet, so forgive me if this has been mentioned already. There is terrific resource on Beatles music by musicologist Alan Pollack, which can be found here: Alan W. Pollack's Notes on ... Series.

I especially encourage those who slag off the early songs to check this out. There was something interesting going on in pretty much every song.

The thing I like about Pollack’s analyses is he avoids ascribing super-musician powers to them. He looks at each track objectively and reveals the intrinsic magic, whether or not it was planned as magic.

Example: Tomorrow Never Knows

Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Tomorrow Never Knows"

There are some uncanny parallels to be drawn between aspects of this track and gestures or techniques used elsewhere in the avant garde world of so-called "Modern" twentieth century music. I bring this up not to suggest the Beatles were consciously borrowing from, or being influenced by the specific works or composers in question (Heck, I'd be very surprised if they were even aware of them, even if Paul did know how to drop the name of Stockhausen in an interview ) Rather, any such parallels for me are all the more uncanny and ironic in the absence of direct knowledge.

On a rather immediate level, I've always enjoyed the way that the preceding song, "Invalid Link Removed" being in G with an extended outro vamping on that chord, sets up "Tomorrow Never Knows"'s being in C as though the two songs together create a decisive V -» I ending for the album. But there are issues that run much deeper.

As the smoke clears, a number of musical elements emerge that you'd never guess had been there all along; most notably, a furiously flailing tack piano. I wonder, though — were these newly emerging elements really there all along, or is it a matter of a deftly handled aural illusion? And, by the way — to the extent that the illusion works so well, you might say it doesn't really matter if the piano was really there all along or not!

Above: Copyright © 1995 by Alan W. Pollack. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced, retransmitted, redistributed and otherwise propagated at will, provided that this notice remains intact and in place.

 

[Rumble Thunder]

I had an original stereo first pressing of A Hard Days Night, on the United Artists label, not Capitol. Also the original mono first pressing of Introducing The Beatles on Vee Jay records. I stupidly sold them to a used records store for like $1.50 during my digital madness phase.

Look at this:

Invalid Link Removed

Oh my gosh, I have never seen this before! That is crazy! 4,000 dollars?!! Wow!
I guess Vee Jay had them before Capital? How in the world did that happen? United Artists??
Did those albums have tbe same recordings as the Capital ones or were there different takes on those albums?

 

[RedVee]

I’m currently reading “Revolution in the Head: The Beatles records and the Sixties” by Ian MacDonald.
Goes through every song in the order they were recorded.
It’s interesting but I don’t always agree. I jumped ahead and his review of “Maxwells Silver Hammer” is scorching!

 

[Alkali Ike]

Oh my gosh, I have never seen this before! That is crazy! 4,000 dollars?!! Wow!
I guess Vee Jay had them before Capital? How in the world did that happen? United Artists??
Did those albums have tbe same recordings as the Capital ones or were there different takes on those albums?

I’m not 100% sure on the Vee Jay story except that somehow VJ scored the US rights to that before Capitol pushed them out of the way. I’m sure lawyers were involved though.

United Artists secured all the US rights to both the Hard Days Night movie and the initial release of the soundtrack album.

 

[kartiste]

Killer story!
Man, I know what you mean about that energy...
it's got that something, I think you'll understand
I Want to Hold Your Hand is one of my absolute favorite tunes ever!!!

On the Album, "Meet the Beatles " what songs stood out to you? I always dug It Won't Be Long, Don't Bother Me and Hold Me Tight. Of course, the bass line on All My Lovin' is fantastic, what a fun song to play. Great record, it was matchless, it had an incredible energy, a unique style and great overall sound for a mono/stereo recording.
Did your mom bring home the second album or did she make you buy it? The second album was cool but not as cool as the first one. A Hard Day's Night was a planet shaker!
Good stuff, the Beatles, yes they were quite the band.

Hold Me Tight has always been a covert pleasure for me. That passage between "you .. don't know" to "alone tonight with you" is like walking on a tightrope, nearly losing your balance, then triumphantly stepping solidly on to the platform at the end.

 

[Rumble Thunder]

I’m currently reading “Revolution in the Head: The Beatles records and the Sixties” by Ian MacDonald.
Goes through every song in the order they were recorded.
It’s interesting but I don’t always agree. I jumped ahead and his review of “Maxwells Silver Hammer” is scorching!

What does he say about the song, "Because?"
What are some of the things you don't see eye to eye on?
I haven't seen that book but it sounds interesting!

 

[Rumble Thunder]

George Harrison is the one who I seem to relate to the most. He was forever writing crazy stuff that when all was said and done, his ears were bigger than his hands. That's a me.

George rocks!
So what would be your top three George tunes?
Mine would be, hmmmm
1) Taxman
2) Don't Bother Me
3) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

With a shout out to "Piggies" that song is hysterically hi-larius.

 

[Wulfensteiner]

George rocks!
So what would be your top three George tunes?
Mine would be, hmmmm
1) Taxman
2) Don't Bother Me
3) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

With a shout out to "Piggies" that song is hysterically hi-larius.

Ohhhh. That's tough dude. My list of faves is very similar with ''My sweet lord" in place of Taxman but Taxman in a close 4th