OK, just a very brief into from me today
You'd be surprised. You might like Higgs were he to have a new incarnation. Never underestimate an individual's potential for growth and how circumstances change us. I happened to talk with Higgs and got to know him, and can vouchsafe that he's a good guy and that most of us would like him were we to get to know him.
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
2022 Ranking: 116
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 26
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Rob) (11) OTB_Lifer (15)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR
OK, just a very brief into from me today as I had all kinds of boring crap to do today and then the day was over! Thanks to everyone who worked hard to get me on this forum. And not only did I know people who would earn the ####--- name, but I have probably (OK, definitely ) called many people worse that, so not a problem. I am enjoying being Wrighteous Ray and reading all the comments. Since I am actually a pretty new Beatles fan, I am learning so much, much more than my "mature" brain will probably remember.
So, I am 78 years old and did not become aware of how incredible the Beatles were until about 6 years ago when we moved here from Indiana. Our first several years here, we were fortunate enough to do a lot of car travels with Krista and Mr. Krista and heard a lot of Beatles music during these travels. Needless to say, I was hooked. Why was I not exposed to the Beatles earlier? At the time of their early popularity, I was very busy having and raising children, completing my education and starting my nursing career. Growing up in rural Indiana, my folks mainly listened to country music and gospel music. I knew all the big-time country artists' songs when I was younger. During my teen-age years in the '50's, I did have a record player and listened to groups like Bill Haley and the Comets, Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry and such. I think these are things that influenced my choices here. I am not knowledgeable enough to dissect and determine what makes a particular song really good or special, so my choices were mainly just what I like to listen to. So, yes, I will probably be last in the chalk list (or whatever it is currently called), but I think that frequently, being last is better than not being included at all. That's it for now.
My rank: 33Wait
2022 Ranking: 117
2022 Lists: 5
2022 Points: 25
Ranked Highest by: @ProstheticRGK (18) @Murph(20) @Encyclopedia Brown (21) @rockaction (21) @heckmanm (25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 123T/1/8
Getz: Our first song with five votes, but none above #18. Heckmann now on the board.
Krista4
My 2019 ranking: 87
2019 write-up:
Wait (Rubber Soul, 1965)
Things are a bit of a crapshoot at this point. I mean, these are all great songs. Somehow when I did my original rankings into five tiers, this one ended up in the fourth tier. I don't know why, and now I've placed it more in line with what I actually think. Maybe because Rubber Soul is just so damn good, this one suffers in comparison - it's a little same-y, and I don't like the ending. What I do love is the build of the instrumentation in each of the verses - the light tambourine building into the maracas and drums, the backward fill from Ringo at 0:11, the guitar adding in mimicry of the yelp, "Wait!". That sonic build gives the song such a pleasing texture, and I think the rhythms of the song work as a further expression of the lyrics, as if they were the stop-and-start of a relationship.
The song was recorded for Help! but ultimately left off that album, but the exact provenance of this song is somewhat unknown. For years most people credited it as solely or mostly a John song, but in the mid-90s Paul indicated that he thought this was his composition with little or no input from John, and that he wrote it in the Bahamas while hanging out with former child actor Brandon de Wilde. To me, the insecurity of the verses sounds like John and the sunnier bridge like Paul.
Mr. krista: "I like playing maracas instead of a high hat. The first time I heard that was Sonic Youth and it sounded so good. Now that I think about it, it’s the same beat. [Plays Sonic Youth song 'Bull in the Heather.'] Yes, it’s the same."
Suggested cover: Wowza. Bettye LaVette
2022 Supplement: As I mentioned in 2019, this was left off the Help! Album, and looking back now it sounds to me like a good bridge between Help! and Rubber Soul. “Wait” almost missed out on Rubber Soul, as it was the last song pulled out of the earlier sessions and added. It has some of the simplicity in the lyrics that is more characteristic of the earlier record, but, due to the overdubs (such as maracas and tambourine) that were added when it was resurrected, it also shows the much fuller instrumentation that the band progressed toward on Rubber Soul and beyond. The song starts in such a jarring but pleasing (to me) way, with John a capella for the first words until the downbeat, and then it takes a number of interesting twists and turns, from odd meter (six measures on the verses and five on the choruses) and unusual syncopation and key changes to the way the full instrumentation weaves in and out of the song. I love how at the end of the chorus, all the instruments suddenly go quiet other than the tambourine. Lots of little effects like that in this song make it a compelling listen even for the squillionth time.
Guido Merkins
The Beatles were progressing quite nicely in early 1965. But the next album would really be the biggest jump of their career up to this point (with an even bigger one in 1966.) Rubber Soul was the Beatles leaving behind the lovable moptops forever. It took only one month to create a masterpiece, but at the end of that one month, they only had 13 songs. They needed one more.
If there is one song that sounds like it’s not such a leap forward, it’s Wait. Not that it’s a bad song, but it sounds a bit like the Help album. There’s a reason for that. It was from the Help album. Wait didn’t make it to the Help album, so being one song short on Rubber Soul, they resurrected Wait and added some overdubs and added it to the album.
The volume pedal guitar by George is straight from I Need You on the Help album and Yes It Is, the B side of the Ticket to Ride single, from the Help sessions. Wait is one of the few songs that the Beatles wrote in a minor key. Paul writing another song about Jane Asher telling her to “wait.” The harmonies are also great on the song. And I like the middle part a lot (I feel as though, you ought to know…”
Overall a good song, but compared to the others on this album, nothing spectacular.
I was told there was going to be no math!The more I listen to the first 4, the more I appreciate them, the number of favorites I grow fond of expands. Not to the point of eclipsing their more fully formed compositions that were to come..but that’s beside the point.
_______________
nobody:
ABSOLUTELY NO ONE:
BL:
My current ranking of the canon based a crude rating system I developed while ranking 1-204 (bc I left out Free As A Bird & Real Love
Tier 1: Revolver, Rubber Soul
Tier 2: Let It Be… Naked, A Hard Day’s Night, SPLHCB, Abbey Road
Tier 3: Help!, The Beatles (aka TWA), Please Please Me
Tier 4: Magical Mystery Tour (USA LP not UK double EP), Beatles For Sale, With The Beatles
contractually obligated Tier 5: Yellow Submarine
by release:
Please Please Me 9th 89.79
With The Beatles 12th 68.21
A Hard Day's Night 4th 107.85
Beatles For Sale 11th 72.14
Help! 7th 101.14
Rubber Soul 2nd 128.14
Revolver 1st 140.36
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 5th 102.54
Magical Mystery Tour 10th 75.83
The Beatles (aka the White Album) 8th 90.90
Yellow Submarine 13th 63.17
Abbey Road 6th 101.50
Let It Be 3rd 113.92
It sounds like Schoolhouse Rock on acid. Bad acid.The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
2022 Ranking: 116
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 26
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Rob) (11) OTB_Lifer (15)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR
Getz comments: Five of the next six songs were not rated in 2019.
Krista4
My 2019 ranking: 178
2019 write-up:
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (White Album, 1968)
What I love: the Ennio Morricone feel at the beginning, Yoko's dissonance, John's vocal, the way it leads into While My Guitar Gently Weeps. What I don't, at all: the singalong. Unlike my view of Savoy Truffle, I do find this one funny. It makes me smile to listen to it, until it starts to drive me mad with that chorus. John wrote this one based on an experience in India, about "a guy in Maharishi's meditation camp who took a short break to go shoot a few poor tigers, and then came back to commune with God. There used to be a character called Jungle Jim and I combined him with Buffalo Bill. It's a sort of teenage social-comment song and a bit of a joke." I like the joke.
Fun fact: Yoko singing "Not when he looked so fierce..." was the first lead vocal from a woman on a Beatles record.
Mr. krista: "I prefer this to Rocky Raccoon. You can pick Yoko out of those background vocals. Did Bungalow Bill ever get back to us on what he killed? Or was it just the Beatles’ self-respect?”"
Suggested covers: Dawn Kinnard/Ron Sexsmith - I'm not 100% sold on this, but (1) I love Ron Sexsmith, and (2) I like the switch to an off-key female for the lead singer. For some serious inventiveness, check out the version by Deerhoof.
2022 Supplement: Continued listening did not make me think more fondly of this one over the past three years; in fact, I’d probably drop it down 20ish slots. Many years later, Paul said it’s one of his favorite on the White Album and claimed this as an animal rights song on behalf of John, saying that it made him realize John felt the same way he (Paul) did, even though John wasn’t an animal activist. Ehhhhh, I dunno.
What did the inspiration for the song, Richard Cooke III, think of all this? I don’t think he was terribly pleased, but his experiences with the maharishi and the Beatles did make him give up hunting and become a wildlife photographer instead, working for many years for National Geographic. He had at first been very excited about killing the tiger, but quickly he began to feel guilty and scheduled a meeting with the mararishi, and John and Paul happened to be nearby. The maharishi was horrified at the act, and Cooke said he’d never kill an animal again. He’s described his time with the Beatles as being generally good, and that everyone was very nice to him other than John (who was aloof), but that they had little in common. Nevertheless, his mother Nancy (who might also have been named Magill or Lil), who is also referenced in the song, remained friends with George until his death.
In case you don’t have a root canal scheduled for a while and need a substitute, here’s an earlier take of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI6QgHR058g
Guido Merkins
In Rishikesh, India the Beatles came across quite a few characters. One such person was a man who came to commune with God, yet went out every now and then to shoot tigers. Jungle Jim and Buffalo Bill were combined as only John could to come up with Bungalow Bill. John meant the song as a social commentary. The man probably left the commune having no idea he had inspired a new Beatles song
The recording is done in a very very loose, sing a long kind of way, maybe almost as a precursor to Give Peace A Chance. It is most notable, however, for the first and only appearance of Yoko Ono on a Beatles record on the line “not when he looked so fierce.”
As much as John hated Obla Di Obla Da, this one isn’t much better and in fact, is worse because it doesn’t have the goofy charm of the Paul song. John sounds like he’s trying to say something important, but it comes across as lightweight. Paul is trying to be lightweight so you can just relax and take it for what it is.
With these choices, I'm surprised he didn't rank either of the Honey Pies.When I mentioned earlier that Rob had a lot of White Album on his list, I was thinking of the fact he had this one, Revolution 9, and the godforsaken Why Don't We Do It In The Road. CTE, indeed.
With these choices, I'm surprised he didn't rank either of the Honey Pies.
I think we found the serial killer.When I mentioned earlier that Rob had a lot of White Album on his list, I was thinking of the fact he had this one, Revolution 9, and the godforsaken Why Don't We Do It In The Road. CTE, indeed.
McJose was a furry weasel thing holding a plastic pumpkin.
McJose was a furry weasel thing holding a plastic pumpkin.
Say a sentence never written nor spoken in the history of mankind.
Sounds like the first line of a Paul outtake from the White Album.McJose was a furry weasel thing holding a plastic pumpkin.
Say a sentence never written nor spoken in the history of mankind.
Why are there three sad replies to this?
That's what I did here as well, because I know what it means if krista or RA do it.Can't speak for anyone else, but I use "sad" now to indicate "laugh" in protest of the laughing emoji ban.
It's funny, because I did it before even reading downthread. This is forbidden by shuke our humble overlord? I can abide.That's what I did here as well, because I know what it means if krista or RA do it.
No. Don't do that.
Announced immediately when the laugh emoji was taken away. Not changing it.
By the way, I just noticed the thread title says "Buffalo" rather than "Bungalow" Bill. I fixed your error in the master document, @Getzlaf15.
Announced immediately when the laugh emoji was taken away. Not changing it.
By the way, I just noticed the thread title says "Buffalo" rather than "Bungalow" Bill. I fixed your error in the master document, @Getzlaf15.
IT KEEPS AUTO CORRECTING. I fixed it, and then it did it again.Announced immediately when the laugh emoji was taken away. Not changing it.
By the way, I just noticed the thread title says "Buffalo" rather than "Bungalow" Bill. I fixed your error in the master document, @Getzlaf15.
Announced immediately when the laugh emoji was taken away. Not changing it.
Wasn't Rudi Stein the bail bondsman avatar?"Wait" is the #1, 2, 3, and 4 favorite Beatles song of TannerBoyle/Reg Lllama of Brixton/Officer Pete Malloy/Orton to Olsen/the name I've forgotten that had Chico's bail bonds as the avatar/several other names. Miss that guy around here. But at least we still get to have PSF trolls.
IT KEEPS AUTO CORRECTING. I fixed it, and then it did it again.
Math is all around youI was told there was going to be no math!
you got a bee on your hat
wait wait waitmeh, don't hate it ...but it's never touching my top 100.
Hey Jude tests the limits of this theory for me.Not sure how people could complain about the length of It's All Too Much. If you like something, won't you like more of it?
And Bungalo Bill is just...fun. It's kind of a defining song of the White Album to me.
His enthusiasm for it (and a couple others) was a factor in my rankings this time around."Wait" is the #1, 2, 3, and 4 favorite Beatles song of TannerBoyle/Reg Lllama of Brixton/Officer Pete Malloy/Orton to Olsen/the name I've forgotten that had Chico's bail bonds as the avatar/several other names. Miss that guy around here. But at least we still get to have PSF trolls.
Too muchMath is all around you
Papa BL, to his children, often
Your background sounds very similar to my mom's background. She just turned 79 in December, and she is from rural North Carolina in the foothills. My grandparents listened to country and gospel, which mom grew up liking and still does, and in the 50's mom listened to all of those artists you named. Did you like Elvis? Mom liked Elvis a lot. In the late 60s, Neil Diamond came along, and he stole mom's heart away from Elvis.Growing up in rural Indiana, my folks mainly listened to country music and gospel music. I knew all the big-time country artists' songs when I was younger. During my teen-age years in the '50's, I did have a record player and listened to groups like Bill Haley and the Comets, Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry and such. I think these are things that influenced my choices here.
My first song !!!!!!!!!!Love Me Do
2022 Ranking: 120
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 24
Ranked Highest by: @prosopis (17) Shaft41 (Daughter) (18) Shaft41 (Son2) (19)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR
Getz: Two enter here with their first songs. Kind of shocked there are still 29 voters that have not appeared. Cool, quirky video above.
Krista4
My 2019 ranking: 103
2019 write-up:
Love Me Do (Please Please Me, 1962)
It's hard to put this song, which was part of their audition for George Martin and became their first hit single - the one that started it all! - in the bottom half, but setting sentimentality aside, this isn't one of their top-half-of-the-countdown efforts. Love love love the harmonica, and the vocals are sweet. but the song is sooooo simple. The lyrics are simple and repetitive (Paul wrote most of this when he was 15 or 16); the guitar part is simple; the drums are simple (though apparently not simple enough to save Pete Best from getting fired after the audition). The harmonica saves it, along with Paul's charming "love me do" at the end of each line - Paul singing that bit was George Martin's idea so that John could focus on the harmonica part there instead of switching back and forth. Worst of all, of course, is that Ringo is not on the album version of the song - George Martin went to his grave knowing I had never forgiven him for substituting Andy White in this session (discussed previously with respect to "P.S. I Love You"). Or maybe not.
The song rose to 17th on the UK charts; the rumor was that this was in part because Brian Epstein bought 10,000 copies himself for his record store, but both Epstein and John denied this was true. This song is exciting to me mostly because of what it led to, rather than what it is. And due to that harmonica.
Fun John fact: the harmonica John played on this was allegedly shoplifted by him during their Hamburg days.
Fun Paul fact: Paul didn't ever play this song in his solo shows, thinking it was too "little," until the mid-2010s, when he started doing it at the request of, among others...David Bowie.
How dare you!!!How did this make anyone’s top 150?
Mom?OK, just a very brief into from me today as I had all kinds of boring crap to do today and then the day was over! Thanks to everyone who worked hard to get me on this forum. And not only did I know people who would earn the ####--- name, but I have probably (OK, definitely ) called many people worse that, so not a problem. I am enjoying being Wrighteous Ray and reading all the comments. Since I am actually a pretty new Beatles fan, I am learning so much, much more than my "mature" brain will probably remember.
So, I am 78 years old and did not become aware of how incredible the Beatles were until about 6 years ago when we moved here from Indiana. Our first several years here, we were fortunate enough to do a lot of car travels with Krista and Mr. Krista and heard a lot of Beatles music during these travels. Needless to say, I was hooked. Why was I not exposed to the Beatles earlier? At the time of their early popularity, I was very busy having and raising children, completing my education and starting my nursing career. Growing up in rural Indiana, my folks mainly listened to country music and gospel music. I knew all the big-time country artists' songs when I was younger. During my teen-age years in the '50's, I did have a record player and listened to groups like Bill Haley and the Comets, Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry and such. I think these are things that influenced my choices here. I am not knowledgeable enough to dissect and determine what makes a particular song really good or special, so my choices were mainly just what I like to listen to. So, yes, I will probably be last in the chalk list (or whatever it is currently called), but I think that frequently, being last is better than not being included at all. That's it for now.
Everywhere, it's what you makeToo much
Too-oo much
This is a bit of (inside baseball type) guitarist geek stuff but even non-musician Beatles fans will will find it fascinating.Every Little Thing
2022 Ranking: 115
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 26
Ranked Highest by: Krista(Sharon) (5) OTB_Lifer (23) Krista(Craig) 25
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR
Getz comments: Won't be making my 1-64
Krista4
My 2019 ranking: 167
2022 Supplement: Wow, I wrote a lot already. Not entirely sure about my confusion in the original post about who did what, as it seems generally accepted that (1) Paul wrote this about Jane Asher, and
(2) John’s on lead vocal and lead guitar, using his custom-made Rickenbacker 12-string for the first time on a Beatles song. Now that I’ve clarified that, I have little more to say!