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All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!!
- Thread starter Rumble Thunder
- Start date
What do The Beatles fans here think about Paul's "duet" with John on the opening night of his new "Got Back" Tour this month? Cool, or not? Tasteful, or not? Solicitous, or not?
What do y'all think?
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Frankly, I was appalled.
Tasteless. Striving to be relevant. He doesn’t need to remind people of his place in the Beatles. Or next to John Lennon.
Didn't both me at all. The audience liked it. Yoko must have had to approve it, John gets a performannce royalty. At some point there will be 3D holigraphic projections. The Beatles will tour again long after they are gone.
It struck me that the open rif played that way sounded like Elvis' Suspicious Minds. Elvis has a number 1 hit with it in 1969, the song was written in 1968. The Beatles recorded it in 1969.
Thanks for posting that. I've seen it before, but I never before noticed that "Fatso" is listed in the closing credits. Fatso was a short-lived band put together by former Patto drummer John Halsey after his previous band, Patto, crashed and burned.
Halsey (who is sitting behind the drumset and is recognizable by his distinctive large ride cymbal set at his preferred 45-degree angle) worked with Eric Idle (who appears as the compère in the sketch) in the Rutles mockumentary All You Need Is Cash and played Barry Wom, the Ringo-like Rutles drummer. To complete the circle, it's fair to say that a Patto song written by Halsey was the source, or at least the inspiration, of Harrison's song there.
G’day Griffo, not to mention that 350k was a large percentage of Adelaide’s total population at that time
I don’t have a problem at all and would love to see it. I was 8 in 1970 when the Beatles split up and I had no chance of seeing them play. so this might be my next closest thing if Paul brings it to Oz.
Paul will be turning 80 this June 18th. He has a show scheduled for that evening. Not bad for an old geezer.
I think my fav. Beatles tune will always be A day in the life. There are more rocking and catchy tunes of theirs, but for me it was the pure genius of this one that does it for me. Really love the chaotic orchestral crescendo, and then the pianos.
I had hoped for more input, but I got the range I expected. Because, honestly, I feel strongly both ways!
It can certainly be a touchy subject. I can see Paul-fans thinking it's a nice, magnanimous gesture to an old friend, while John-fans may think it's a callous money grab on John's coattails (and, to some extent, the "Let It Be" and "Get Back" filmakers').
If "politics make strange bedfellows", so does poverty mixed with ambition. John and Paul were always very different people on a fundamental basis. But they originally shared their common experiences to their mutual benefit; first and foremost their love of rock & roll, and the early loss of their mothers. When they first began to make some serious money, John's concern about "selling out" was glossed over with something like, "Hell, I’d wear a balloon if that’s what it took to be rich and famous". Thus the combination of the ascerbic John and the polite Paul actually did become extremely rich and famous!
But the clash of personalities was inevitable. If John and Paul represented the two extreme personalities in the group, I think George and Ringo were quite the middle ground between them. At first the four were all bound by the fun of making music. Then the first fruits of their labors began to invisibly bind them together. It was only natural, though naive, to assume that they would always work together making music and money. But once their common poverty was so dramatically overcome, of course the individual ambitions of each of the four were bound to spring forth. That is what pressed so hard against the cast-iron legal and financial binders that they had so unwittingly forged. And, like cast-iron, it could only take so much pressure before breaking like an eggshell.
It took a while, but they all eventually recognized the undying friendship they shared. John and Paul did talk to each other again, even meeting in an L.A. studio in 1974, though to no avail, and watching "Saturday Night Live" together and considering Lorne Michael's ridiculous reunion offer! But by then their individual personalities were too pronounced for anything more than friendly conversation. Both could, and did, collaborate musically with others but, ironically, just not with each other!
Then John was taken from us too soon. There is nothing anyone can do to bring him back. And Paul continues on, ... and on, ... and on! There is nothing Paul can do or say about John that will meet with everyone's approval. And he certainly can't ignore him!
So, it comes down to those sage words from when "Yoko brought her walrus" and "there was magic in the air" ... ... "You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." I think Paul is doing that, as we all must.
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Given some time, The Beatles would have got back to working together. John said so more than once.
They were better pulling off each other as a group than as individuals.
Also, a private relationship was not the same as what you would see or hear about in public. It always is.
LENNON PLANNED TO REUNITE THE BEATLES
They were better pulling off each other as a group than as individuals.
Also, a private relationship was not the same as what you would see or hear about in public. It always is.
LENNON PLANNED TO REUNITE THE BEATLES
I thought it was pretty cool. My personal view is; Paul misses John very much and wanted to show that with a little visual/audio tribute to his late friend. Paul is 80 now and is no doubt trying to make the most of however much time he may have left. Quite sure he misses the Beatles greatly and the time they spent together. I miss those times very much myself. But like it or not, time marches on.
I thought it was cool and done in a very respectful manner and so it honored John as well. Paul gets a pass on this because they were boyhood mates and that friendship preceded the legal, political and financial arenas they would eventually become immersed in later on. Also, since John asked Paul to be in the band and John says that he actually chose Paul to be his working partner then It feels as if Paul is lifting John up and saluting him with this tribute duet. I see nothing wrong with it and don’t think there was any suspect, underlying motives involved here. I could be naïve but I just got a feeling it was simply an old, nostalgic, maybe even cathartic, way for Paul to be able to jam with John one more time.
Absolutely one of my favorite Beatles tunes! I wish my band had gotten around to adding this to our our setlist but I don't think it will happen.
I dig what Paul played as well on the earlier version played in D as heard on Anthology:
IF we ever do get around to playing it I'd play a combination of both basslines.
Learning While My Guitar Gently Sleeps for a new group. I knew the bass was special during the chorus. Interesting…
It took me a bit, but I got it.
It took me a bit, but I got it.
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Yep - GREAT tune, great bassline and fun to play! It took me a little time as well to find the sweet spot for my approach.
Because our band is acoustic/electric the chords Paul plays at times don't fit so well, but that's an easy adjustment.
My secret was/is..don’t rush the bass line. Once you learn it it’s somewhat easy…but also easy to rush the parts during the song. I wouldn’t have come up with that line in a million years. It’s kinda buried in the mix…the isolated part made learning it easier.
A hard song to nail. My understanding is that they used a Fender Bass VI amd a four string bass. As described here.
Fun stuff. Worked on it again. Amazing song writing!
I also worked on Let It be.
Now that is a bassey sound on the isolated bass!
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Great point - not rushing is key, and there is a syncopation as well that cannot be ignored. Once I learned the line and started playing it with the band I thought I’d have to simplify to make it fit. After some time I figured out the sweet spot and it’s been all good ever since.
Yep, there is definitely doubling of the line during the chorus. I use an octaver that plays an octave up to simulate.
