Tags
You Know the Name: The Music of the Beatles, Pt. 14–Future Servants
04 Wednesday May 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
in04 Wednesday May 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
01 Sunday May 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
The Beatles regarded albums and singles as two separate entities, valuing the former above the latter, and even refusing to release individual sides from two of their most beloved albums (Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles). As a result, some of the group’s most well-known tracks never made it onto any official album.
In 1987, the Beatles discography was made available on CD for the first time, and an additional treat was in store when a two-volume collection arrived not long after that compiled all these lonely hearts. Past Masters is, at the very least, a tidy history lesson. The band’s growth and progress is on display, from the hit factory that aspired nothing loftier than to break a sweat, to drugged-up pioneers of exceptional artistic bravery, to stubborn malcontents on the verge of collapse.
DISC ONE (October 1962 to July 1965)
“Love Me Do” (original single on Parlaphone Records)–The main difference between this and the version that appeared on Please Please Me is who’s playing drums–Ringo here, Andy White on the album. In their never-ending pissing match with the English, the Scots should never fail to at least once a week bring up how Andy White just killed Ringo Starr. Holy shit. But why stop there? Everything about the Andy White version sounds better. (And lest you believe I’m just throwing darts at Starkey, “Love Me Do” just isn’t “Love Me Do” without his tambourine part.) There’s a dearth of energy here that makes me wonder if the fellas had to do a show in Azkaban before hitting the studio.
“From Me To You” (A-side, released 4/11/1963)–The title was inspired by “From You to Us,” the name of the NME’s letters column. Irrefutable proof that once upon a time, said rag was not just tolerable, but influential as well.
Patrick and I get our fight caps on over two songs on Past Masters. “From Me to You” is one of them. I believe it started when he said that the song was the weakest one featured on the 1’s album. My forebrain could not process this fully.
“Weaker than ‘She Loves You’? ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’? Is this some sort of elaborate attempt to get my systolic blood pressure reading up to match my body weight? You can’t believe that.”
“Thank You Girl” (B-side, released 4/11/1963)–For defending “From Me To You”? No problem.
Yeah, this one’s standard as a knock-knock joke, right down to the harmonica, but John and Paul find some more space here to show off their yelling ability. Girls, when a guy starts shouting platitudes, you are the recipient of a love most divine. “And eternally/I’ll always be/In love with you.” Really, you will never require panties again.
“She Loves You” (A-side, released 8/23/1963)–Sly to use the third person, ’cause hearing someone talk about what they’re feeling, doing or about to do can get trite.
One of several that John and Paul knocked out side by side, ear to ear, nose to nose, whilst cooped up in an artless hotel room, hurling ideas teeming with what they knew and what they thought they knew up against walls painted some horrid shade of impending death, over and over, till they either stuck or shattered.
The quality disparity from the verses to the chorus is jarring to me personally. The chord pattern is P to P for pied to piper, but that legendary refrain NO NO NO.
Well, love songs are like love affairs. They can’t all be winners. Some of them will result in the fabulous exchange of thoughts and fluids and make you dream of immortality. Still others will make you want to bludgeon your paramour with a cement block you left in the freezer overnight.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” (A-side, released 11/29/1963)–Washing the brains of chickadees after conjuring up a mischievous lather, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was The One, the first Beatles song to hit number one in America, and as much as that chafes Brit crotch, said feat was and in many minds still is the barometer of true success for musical acts.
If I’d been a young lass in 1963, I would’ve been right there in love. I wouldn’t have been screaming myself hoarse, but still. How could I resist three cute English fellas (and the drummer) and their innocent yearnings. You wanna hold my hand, you wanna get some milk too and share it? Music to sensibly shake my modestly skirted booty to.
“This Boy” (B-side, released 11/29/1963)–While I was typing out “B-side,” I thought, Yeah, no shit. Really nothing else to say.
“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand” and “Sie Liebt Dich“ (released 3/5/1964)–If you wonder why the Beatles would redo two of their early singles in the language of romance, I suggest you do the history. They got traces of black, red and gold in their collective DNA, baby. So when EMI’s West German branch called, the boys were like, “What the bloody hell is Odeon Records?” Then when they found out, they got to work creating songs that are funny to listen to once (much in the way it’s amusing to watch a video of yourself having sex, laughing to keep from screaming in horror) and then never again. Now, if they’d switched the yeah‘s for ja‘s, the replay value would be insane.
Certain facts about these novelty songs are far more interesting.
“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand” actually translates to “Come Give Me Your Hand,” which is far more in the German spirit (although not as much as “Give Me Your Hand Or I’ll Rip It Off” would have been).
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” was resung over the original track, but “She Loves You” had to be replayed, as the original two-track tape could not be located. Some listeners claim this is apocryphal, and both tracks are the original with new vocals, but just listen: “She Loves You” is played at a faster tempo while retaining the original key of the song. The key would have changed if it was just a matter of the tape being sped up.
30 Saturday Apr 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
29 Friday Apr 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
17 Sunday Apr 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
10 Sunday Apr 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
“Your Mother Should Know“–Insofar as musical entreaties to narrow the generation gap and promote understanding and compassion between parents and children go, “Your Mother Should Know” smacks the snot out of John Mayer’s pussy-baiting attempts at sensitive songwriting. This tune’s so old-fashioned it comes out of the speakers in black and white with a derby on its head. By design it will either pull you into it or you will push it away with a yelp. Either way it will extend its gratitude for your time.
“Hello Goodbye”–Like pillow fighting that segues into an overly conscious snogging session. Hey, just because Macca’s contradiction anthems aren’t swimming in post-apocalyptic detritus doesn’t mean they suck.
I challenge you to a duality. Ying and yang, ping and peng, stereo and lab. Ol‘ Boy coulda driven this conceit into the ground (black/white, day/night), and that he didn’t can be looked upon as an act of humanitarian mercy. Myself, I have always regarded this song as a chicken salad sandwich. A fine lunch in a pinch, but if I can get a burger next time, I will.
“Strawberry Fields Forever”–The mad alchemist’s potion. It’s not too bad.
You know what’s good? Banana pie. Also good, is peach pie. What if you put them both together to make one heavy metal mega-mecha pie?! That’s a good time, kids. “Strawberry Fields Forever” is an equally tantalizing hodgepodge.
There were three distinct versions of the song recorded, the last two of which comprise the song heard here. On the first, John’s vocals were recorded at a faster-than-normal speed, then played back at the standard speed, giving them the wobbly woobly effect of an approaching mirage. The second version, at Lennon’s behest, featured cellos, zither and trumpets for that dreamier feel. He then asked George Martin and Geoff Emerick to work their studio magic and combine both sections to make a cohesive song. Armed with editing scissors, a pair of tape machines, and a vari-speed control, they spliced two distinct recordings (different tempos, different keys) into one masterpiece. The transition can be heard at one minute into the song, although given the limited technology available, it could have sounded far sloppier.
Cellos improve most songs. They’re what I listen for and to most on this song.
The percussion ain’t half bad, neither. Ringo’s dismissers would do well to listen up. Look, I’m the second or third to stand up and mock Starkey’s turns at the mic, but when he did what he was supposed to do, he did it with versatility and intelligence. Much like every other part of the song, there are moments when Ringo’s playing comes perilously close to pretentious bluster. But the sense of restraint is always there. Well played. Literally.
Unlike Harrison, John is self-aware enough to blunt the edges of his spaciest sentiments. He’s constantly second-guessing in this song, doubling back and it’s “nothing to get hung about.”
“Penny Lane”–Proof that no two kaleidoscopes present the same fractured design. Bright, perky, nonsensical (“blue skies” are “pouring rain,” apparently) but not dumb. Smutty to boot (what with “finger pies” and a fast machine who keeps his “fire engine clean”), but oh God, that melody is as clean as a Brian Wilson piss-test ain’t. This song not only features a piccolo trumpet, it features a piccolo trumpet solo.
“Baby You’re a Rich Man”–Like “A Day in the Life,” combines one-half Lennon (verse) with one-half McCartney (chorus) to create a pleasantly disjointed vibe. Wonderful intro. “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?” is one of those killer lines that was destined to be overrated solely due to the face that it appeals to every denominator in existence.
The clavoline is the real star here. I will never type that sentence again. It’s fantastic, though, it sounds like it was put in there just to jolt every turned-on person listening to it (approximately 99.4% of the audience).
It’s not like I breathe jasmine or cry a unicorns tears, but I’m also not puerile enough to care what may or may not have been said by John Lennon near the end of this song.
“All You Need is Love”–Written hastily and recorded live for a television audience of millions because the Beatles just could not keep this secret to themselves anymore. “We need more love in the world,” Paul said. “Love is allowing somebody to be themselves,” Lennon remarked. Good golly Granddad, hide the scotch, ’cause some bullshit is about to wreck the door down.
That introduction…oh no. Not at all. They all deserved to be flayed and made to bob for razor blades in a vat of sour milk for that. “Looove looove love.” Then again. Stop that. It’s all so treacly I almost vomit from rolling my eyes so hard.
Oh but it’s a baroque pop masterpiece! Screw that.
“Nothing you can do that can’t be done.”
Try sitting on the floor indian-style and willing yourself through the power of your mind to suddenly propel upward into the air. You cannot do this.
“Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung.”
More people in the world have no singing talent than do have singing talent. Less people need to try and sing. Maybe just hum.
“Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game.”
What game? Monopoly? Connect Four? Scrabble? Did you know that “Za” as slang for “pizza” is now accepted in Scrabble games? Oh wait. I think he means the game of life, the one where you don’t land on squares and boom you have a kid.
“It’s easy.”
No it is not. And that is a naive and disturbing outlook on life.
Now, I can hear the dissent. “Obviously the Beatles know it’s not so cut-and-dried, but what they are trying to say in this song is so true and real and worth saying.” Conscious simplification is still simplification! You need love. You need money. You need anger. You need hate. You need food. You need water. You need passion. You need respite. None of these things are all you need. It’s amazing to me they did this song. Even with the pot haze and acid trails that followed them around non-stop during this time period, it’s stunning to me that they sunk this low. What a shame to end a quality record so wretchedly.
Oh well. They could only go up. Right?
*Animals frontman Eric Burdon claimed to be the real life “Eggman,” citing a sordid little story he shared with John Lennon about a Jamaican girlfriend who once cracked an egg on his stomach and then proceeded to suck his well-yolked dick. I…don’t have any friends quite like that.
02 Saturday Apr 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
25 Friday Mar 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
14 Monday Mar 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags
12 Saturday Mar 2011
Posted Beatles Discography, Music
inTags