That is the one Lenon song I can not bear. When he wrote that song, John was largely an absentee parent to Julian, his son with his first wife Cynthia. It is an astoundingly hypocritical sentiment. "How Do You Sleep?" is similarly unforgivable.
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The Beatles - why did I wait so long?
- Thread starter MtManiac
- Start date
I completely agree! Very well stated! Sometimes his whimsy told stories that were just fun, like Magneto & Titanium Man or Admiral Halsey. Often what appeared to be whimsical characters, underneath singsongy melodies with deceptively complex arrangements, could be quite dark. Elenor Rigby comes to mind. As do Jenny Wren and Mr. Bellamy from his more recent records.
Though come to think of it.... John's "Walrus" with his "eggman" buddies was a pretty whimsical fellow....
Not to mention Lucy and Bungalo Bill.
One Paul bio I read (written by Barry Miles)...mentions how Paul was bringing in the Avant Garde Jazz stuff (e.g. Coltrane) & some Modern Classical pieces...mostly to irritate George Martin.
IIRC, that long chromatic climb on "A Day In The Life" was Paul's idea. Pretty whacked-out for a Pop music guy.
I recall a Joe Walsh interview from an old Guitar Player mag...Walsh said he spent, like, 2 years learning the solo note-for-note. Eventually, his paths crossed with George Harrison & he played the solo for him. Walsh asked George if it was close to how he did it...George said something like "...uh, I double-tracked the solo".
Yeah, the US preferred two(2) releases for every one(1) released in the UK. I guess it was a mindset of striking it rich while the iron was hot...Rock 'n' Roll was destined to be just a passing fad, right?
Ever read about the guy that found a case of these "Butcher" cover LPs?
Lucky bastid!
Butcher cover link-
http://www.rarebeatles.com/butchabm/butchabm.htm
At work tonight there was a sign up with a picture of Abbey Road, without the Beatles there, and a caption saying "What if John Never met Paul".
Much to my shock, the majority of people at work didn't know what that meant!
Much to my shock, the majority of people at work didn't know what that meant!
Well, he was obviously dealing with his own abandonment issues, which explains Mother in a nutshell. As self absorbed as it is, it is musically a beautiful song.
Man... Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a hell of an album.
"A Day in the Life" is scary good.
Scary.
"A Day in the Life" is scary good.
Scary.
So I've never really respected the Beatles - ever. I was born in 1970, and although I listened to a lot of music all of my life from the period just before I was born, the Beatles always seemed so tame and safe compared to Jimi, the Who, early Sabbath, Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, etc.), the Stones, the Doors, and numerous others, plus all the greats from the 70s. I never gave the Beatles a proper listen until my young kids started paying attention to non-children's music, and I wanted something good but safe for them to listen to in the car. Since then, I've been gradually getting my feet wetter and wetter, and I've just spent about two hours listening to tracks from several Beatles albums on my iPod, with headphones.
Those guys were freaking musical geniuses!! Like, duh...I am such an idiot. I really like Let It Be and the White Album (again, duh). I'm just glad I've finally seen the light, the world of music is much richer for me now.
I have to buy more now, too bad iTunes doesn't have any...
That's funny, I'm about the same age as you (b. 1973) but I grew up listening to a ton of Beatles (and Motown, Miles, and Coltrane...Dad was pretty hip I guess). I've always been a Beatles fan, but went along with people listening to the Who, CSN&Y, Doors, etc. during school and now I never listen to my cd's by those groups, but the Beatles are always around.
My daughter loves the Help album, and used to know the titles of all of the songs in order. I almost always sing her "Ticket to Ride" before she goes to sleep (although occasionally I'll sing "Blackbird" or she'll request "Across the Universe"). Just did 45 minutes ago actually.
This is one thing that separates the generations musically.There are those who can 'discover' the Beatles, and then there are those of us who could not ignore the Beatles. They just just permeated EVERYTHING. Much more than music. Inescapeable- even your grandma knew about them and probably had her favorite one. Your H.S. band director even grudgingly had to give then props. It can never happen again. I'm glad I wuz there.
Nah, Too much of a good thing y'know? besides, The Police used the Beatles as a model and ran their own career in the tracks that were already laid. And no one noticed! One of their world tours played all the venues (where extant) that the Beatles played, the next tour played all the places they didn't. Those Copeland boys knew somethin'
Then there's the example of a group like Rush. Some may argue that the "jumped the shark" after {album title here} - but I'd argue that they found each other - found their method of interpreting music - and have adhered to it since they started. The result being decades of music that never stopped delivering what the group has to offer - an honest representation of what they, as individual players who enjoy playing together and really like each other can be.
The difference between the Beatles, the Police and Rush is that Geddy, Neil and Alex honestly like each other and never stopped sharing a vision for what they wanted to do musically where the Beatles and Police had what most bands that implode have - egos that couldn't coexist. All it takes is one and the band can be completely destroyed by it. No amount of staying together can fix that. At some point the fact that there's a 'chink in the armor' become obvious and simply continuing to perform can't cover that up.
I think that'd have been what ultimately happened to the Beatles had they chosen to soldier on. No matter how good Lennon's, McCartney's, Harrison's or (yes even) Ringo's stuff was after the fact, the thing that made the Beatles really great was gone. The nature of the relationship between the members became toxic and there really was no amount of playing or writing that could have covered that up. (IMO - of course).
The difference between the Beatles, the Police and Rush is that Geddy, Neil and Alex honestly like each other and never stopped sharing a vision for what they wanted to do musically where the Beatles and Police had what most bands that implode have - egos that couldn't coexist. All it takes is one and the band can be completely destroyed by it. No amount of staying together can fix that. At some point the fact that there's a 'chink in the armor' become obvious and simply continuing to perform can't cover that up.
I think that'd have been what ultimately happened to the Beatles had they chosen to soldier on. No matter how good Lennon's, McCartney's, Harrison's or (yes even) Ringo's stuff was after the fact, the thing that made the Beatles really great was gone. The nature of the relationship between the members became toxic and there really was no amount of playing or writing that could have covered that up. (IMO - of course).
Would I be out of line saying that the Fender Precision (and maybe the Jazz) is the "Beatles" of the bass world? The P inspired and cleared the path for electric basses to come. Some people deny their awesomeness at first but eventually come around to the "mother" of all basses! The Precision is a classic, and its influence cannot be denied - much like the Beatles.
Wasn't Sgt. Peppers and Pet Sounds and The Dark Side of the Moon all recorded in Abbey Road at approx the same time?
Krügmeister;6439933 said:
Pet Sounds- 1966...I'm assuming this is a US/West Coast recording. It's ties are closer to Rubber Soul (Brian Wilson's response to that Beatles' album?).
Sgt. Peppers- 1967
Dark Side Of The Moon- 1973
If approx. the same time frame = within 10 years...then OK.
According to Wikipedia:Krügmeister;6439933 said:
Pet Sounds:
Most of the songs on the album were written during December 1965 and January 1966. While most were composed with Tony Asher, "I Know There's an Answer" was co-written by another new associate, Terry Sachen.
All the backing tracks for Pet Sounds were recorded over a four-month period, using major Los Angeles studios (Gold Star Studios, United Western Recorders and Sunset Sound) and an ensemble that included some highly regarded session musicians, including jazz guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Carol Kaye, and session drummer Hal Blaine. All tracks were produced and arranged by Brian Wilson. He also wrote or co-wrote every track except for Sloop John B.
Sgt Peppers
Recorded over a 129-day period beginning on 6 December 1966. By 1967 all of the Sgt. Pepper tracks could be recorded at Abbey Road using mono, stereo and 4-track recorders. Although 8-track tape recorders were already available in the U.S., the first 8-tracks were not operational in commercial studios in London until late 1967, shortly after Sgt. Pepper was released.
Dark Side:
Recorded by the band and staff engineer Alan Parsons at Abbey Road Studios between June 1972 and January 1973, the album sessions made use of the most advanced techniques available for recording instruments and sound effects in rock music at that time.
