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In this thread I rank my favorite post-Beatles Beatles songs: 291-1. (1 Viewer)

209.  Nobody Knows (McCartney II, 1980)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #94)

If the songs on McCartney II are one-man bands, to me this one sounds the one-man-bandiest.  Listen to this song and tell me you’d ever imagine it was just one guy doing a bunch of overdubs, rather than a full band just jamming.  Those slightly out of sync vocals and drums…it all sounds like a band jamming would - lively, high energy, and a little sloppy.  Somehow he put this together – including six different drum overdubs! - like the band members are responding to each other, as they would playing live, rather than sounding like layering of musical parts.  The lyrics are wacky and the double-tracked (or more) vocal is presented in a way that sounds insane.  It’s fairly standard and simple in its composition, but in presentation becomes a fun and rocking blues jam.
His phrasing on this sounds more like John than himself!

This is on the edge of being skiffle-riffic, but it's a nice vamp. And as you said, one would not expect to hear vamps on a one-man-band album. 

 
We are in "Paul sings the phone book" territory. His vocal is good. The rest of this is ... why? 

A YouTube commenter provides a motive:

"In 1972, After the BBC had already banned "Hi,Hi,Hi" and "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", Paul McCartney half jokingly responded "What do they want me to record?....Mary Had A Little Lamb"? Several responded "Go ahead, see what they do with that song!" In almost no time, he did. The result, another top 20 hit in both the United States AND The UK!"
Also, this is worse than My Love. I'd never heard it before even though it was a hit, so my "My Love is the worst Paul hit that I have heard repeatedly" statement still holds. 

 
Yes, even this is better than My Love. The doo-doo-doo-doo parts in the beginning alone clinch that. 

College-age me would have hated this. Older me enjoys it, particularly the vocal arrangement. When Paul stretches lines like "how can I help YOUUUUUUUUUUUU", it recalls his vocal on Got to Get You Into My Life. 

Now, keep in mind, I took a George Michael song in the jukebox draft, so I may be more tolerant of him than most on this board. 
I dig George Michael.  I'm so out of touch I didn't know it was uncool to do so.  

 
208.  Shake A Hand (Run Devil Run, 1999)  Spotify  YouTube  

(Paul #93)

“Shake A Hand” is a 1953 song written by Joe Morris and has been recorded by, among others, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and Ike & Tina Turner.  Paul is killing the scorching vocal on this one, yowling out to achieve his catharsis, and Mick Green and David Gilmour trade terrific guitar solos.  Paul chose this song because he played it on the jukebox at a particular joint in the Beatles’s Hamburg days.  He said that every time he went there, he put it on, and playing it took him back to those times. 

207.  Movie Magg (Run Devil Run, 1999)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #92)

“Movie Magg” is a Carl Perkins song, recorded at Sun Studios.  It’s a true recollection of how he would take his girlfriend Maggie to the movies, riding his mule named Becky.  Paul likewise kills the vocal on this one, and I’ve selected it over “Shake A Hand” due to the sweet story behind it and told within it.  This is the second of four songs involving Perkins on the countdown!  :shock:  
Shake a Hand as a song reminds me of Please, Please, Please by James Brown. This is very well done. In addition to the guitars you called out, whoever's on piano did a really good job. I wonder what a Beatles version would have sounded like. 

Movie Magg is skiffle-riffic. Which makes sense because that's often how the Brits translated American roots music. I actually see this fitting in with Paul's mellower stuff on the White Album. 

 
This is SO interesting to me as I liked Lennon, but could NEVER get into this album.  Maybe you and Krista will show you what I'm missing as we get further into the countdown as it sounds like Krista has several songs from this album on her list.
I feel the same way about Mind Games. Other than the title track,the rest is mostly forgettable. Should probably do a play through of it as it's been at least 12 years since my last listen. Maybe my tastes have changed.

 
206.  Jools Holland - Horse To The Water (Holland album Small World Big Band, 2001)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #60)

George and Dhani wrote this song together, and on October 2, 2001, George recorded it in what would become his last recorded song.  George, ever the cheeky one, listed the publisher’s name for this composition as “R.I.P. Music Ltd.”  The lyrics reflect the struggles of humankind fully to embrace God.  From all accounts, in the last years of George’s life he had finally resolved the conflict between the physical and spiritual worlds that he had always sought so hard to reconcile, and his final years had been more serene and settled than he had ever previously experienced.

George only provided the vocal here, as he was too weak at that point to play the guitar.   You’d not be wrong to think it sounds like George, though, as Dhani took the lead on guitar.  Despite the weakness, George sounds great to me.

You can take a horse to the water
You can't make him drink
Oh no, oh no, oh no
A friend of mine in so much misery
Some people sail through life, he has struck a reef
I said 'Hey man let's go out and get some wisdom'
First he turned on me, then he turned off his nervous system
And you can take a horse to the water
You can't make him drink
Oh no, oh no, oh no
You can have it all layed out in front
Of you but it still don't make you think
Oh no, oh no, oh no
Someone I love is gotta problem
Some people thirst for truth, he would like a drink
I said 'Hey man this could turn out to be risky'
He said 'Everything's ok' as he downed another bottle of whiskey
And you can take a horse to the water
You can't make him drink
Oh no, oh no, oh no
You can have it all staked out in front
Of you but it still don't make you think
Oh no, oh no, oh no
Preacher out there who warned me about Satan
Could be that he knows him
He acts like he's possessed
I said 'Hey man let's hear about God realisation
For a change'
He said "We don't got time for that
First you must hear the evils of fornication"
And you can take a horse to the water
You can't make him drink
Oh no, oh no, oh no
You can have it all staked out in front
Of you but it still don't make you think
Oh no, oh no, oh no


&
This is excellent. This is probably the kind of thing we would have gotten more of if George had kept producing material regularly after Cloud Nine and the Wilburys. He's in fine voice and there's no trace that this was recorded by someone who was very sick. 

 
205.  Peace Dream (Y Not, 2010)  Spotify  YouTube

(Ringo #14)

Having discussed both John’s and George’s deaths, I want to turn to a couple of tributes to them from Ringo.  The first is “Peace Dream,” a tribute to John from Ringo’s 2010 album Y NotY Not received moderately good reviews, and this song is one of the highlights (I’ll have another from this record later).  Ringo summoned some of the best musicians for this tribute song, including Ben Harper, Edgar Winter, Joe Walsh, and most notably Sir Paul McCartney on bass. 

Yeah, I know, Ringo…voice…simple lyrics…whatever.  It’s a sweet and sincere song, and by the way Paul’s bass line is fabulous.  But here’s where I admit something very important to the countdown:  songs by one or more Beatles in tribute or in kindness to another Beatle get 52 squillion extra points from me.  ####, I’m getting soft.  This is not the last time this maxim will arise.

Last night I had a peace dream
You know how real dreams can be
The world was a better place
For you and me, can't you see?


No need for war no more
Better things we're fighting for
No more hunger, no more pain
I hope I have that dream again


Can you imagine all of this coming through?
It's really up to all of us to do
Just like John Lennon said in Amsterdam from his bed
"One day the world will wake up to see the reality"


Last night I had a peace dream
You know how real dreams can be
The world was a better place
For you and me, can't you see?


No need for war no more
Better things we're fighting for
No more hunger, no more pain
I hope the dream comes true someday


So try to imagine
If we give peace a chance
All the world could be living in harmony
One day our dream could be reality, reality


Last night I had a peace dream
You know how real dreams can be
The world was a better place
For you and me


No need for war no more
Better things we're fighting for
No more hunger, no more pain
We'll make our dream come true someday


&
I like the groove on this one. And it's arranged such that Ringo's vocal style works for it. 

 
I feel the same way about Mind Games. Other than the title track,the rest is mostly forgettable. Should probably do a play through of it as it's been at least 12 years since my last listen. Maybe my tastes have changed.
I like Mind Games better than most people do and have several songs from it on the countdown, but I’m a much bigger fan of Walls and Bridges.  I’d put it second to Plastic Ono Band in quality, but more listenable.  As good a song as “Mother” is, for instance, I can’t listen to it often.

I've never heard either MG or W&B all the way through and should probably rectify that. 
You guys keep doing this with the albums and you’ll  ruin my big reveals!   :lol:  

 
Also, this is worse than My Love. I'd never heard it before even though it was a hit, so my "My Love is the worst Paul hit that I have heard repeatedly" statement still holds. 
This also applies to Pipes of Peace and Spies Like Us. They may be worse than My Love but they never crossed my path much and I'm not revisiting them closely to try to sort that out. 

 
You guys keep doing this with the albums and you’ll  ruin my big reveals!   :lol:  
Even if I go through with it, there will still be plenty of surprises on my end. The only solo Beatle albums I possess are Plastic Ono Band, All Things Must Pass and Cloud Nine (and the Wilbury records if those count). I have listened to Ram and Band on the Run on Youtube in their entirety. And I watched the Rockshow concert film. That's it. Everything else I know is because of the radio or MTV. 

 
krista4 said:
---INTERLUDE – Living In The Material World (1973)---

After the blockbuster success of All Things Must Pass, George began to devote his time to charitable projects, including the immensely successful Concert for Bangladesh, and as a result, his next studio album, Living In The Material World, was not released until 1973.  Given the pent-up anticipation for George’s follow-up, the album quickly reached #1 in the US (knocking off Wings’s Red Rose Speedway – eek) and went Gold within two days of its release and Platinum in short order thereafter, in part behind the success of #1 single “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” (which knocked Wings’s “My Love” off the top spot – double eek). 

Critical response was mixed, with Rolling Stone calling it a “pop classic” that was the best conceived work by a former Beatle since John’s Plastic Ono Band, while many objected to its overtly religious content, with one calling it “turgid, repetitive and so damn holy I could scream” and another referring to its “didactically imposing said Holy Memoirs upon innocent record-collectors" and calling the album as offensive in its piety as John’s Some Time In New York City had been in its political statements.  Response to George’s vocals on the album was also mixed, with some citing his singing and phrasing as a highlight, while one said that “Harrison sings as if he's doing sitar impressions.”  (Personally I think his plaintive vocals are perfect.)  Critics seemed to be unanimous in their praise of the musicians on the record, including not just George’s excellent guitar work but the contributions by, say them with me:  Voormann, Hopkins, Wright, Keltner…and Ringo!  Retrospective reviews of the album have been more favorable.

Unquestionably this was George’s most clearly religious work, bringing the broader context of some of his messages in All Things Must Pass into a more personal depiction of a struggle between the spiritual and the “material world.”  George’s already-strong devotion to Krishna consciousness had grown significantly during the period after All Things Must Pass, but his temptation by the rock-star accouterments also continued mostly unabated.  While actively and genuinely involved in spiritual pursuits, George was simultaneously spending lavish amounts of money, continuing with his drug use, including a growing interest in cocaine – his close friend Chris O’Dell joked that you couldn’t tell if he was reaching into his coke bag or his prayer bag – and cheating on his wife continually, including the affair with Maureen Starkey that I previously discussed as well as numerous one-night stands.  He wasn’t touring and was recording at home, meaning that he had few musical outlets for his increasingly difficult relationship with his wife; the song “So Sad,” which would show up on a later record, was recorded during this period as a reflection on the end of his marriage.  On the other hand, he would spend days or weeks on long drives by himself just chanting the hare krishna.  He was, as Voormann described him at the time, “an extreme character,” which Pattie Boyd echoed:  “always extreme.”  The music director for the album described George as being “seriously stressed” and in crisis at this time, ping-ponging back and forth between the extremes of both the spiritual and the mortal realms.

It might be this struggle that critics objected to, either seeing his religious exhortations as hypocritical, or longing for the more purely positive and upbeat spiritual notions of All Things Must Pass.  Maybe because I have the benefit of George’s later works to consider, but I think the personal quality of the conflict that George was facing is what makes this album even better.  I don’t see these songs as “preachy” so much as longing, hoping that he can make it to the spiritual plane that he is seeking, while still acknowledging his imperfections and his struggles to let go of the pleasures of his past (and current) activities.  I’d like to think that – however poorly his lyrics might have expressed it (better use of pronouns could have helped!) – he isn’t telling us what we must do, but assuring himself publicly that the path is there for him, if he can get himself to commit to it.  And he does it with messages that are musically and lyrically gorgeous.  Not being much a fan of Spector’s Wall of Sound (with the exception of its use in All Things Must Pass), I appreciate the toned-down, low-key, and contemplative nature of this record, and being also a fan of heartfelt, pained works, the sadness of this record appeals to me.  I prefer its untidiness to an album that purports to have resolution of these issues.

The album might also have come when times were almost imperceptibly but definitively changing.  The charitable notions that had spurred the Concert for Bangladesh were giving way to a desire for escapism.  Glam rock and prog rock were on the rise, which were two musical ideas that George had no understanding of.  This was a bit of a last gasp for an era that desired spiritual enlightenment, with music instead moving into a period based on throwing off the “tyranny” of established rock and roll.  As I’ve described in prior write-ups, it was at this point that George began to lose his connection to and appreciation for what was culturally relevant, and combined with his lack of connection to the outside world, was the beginning of his “old-fogeyism.” 

Even the less charitable of reviews generally praised the production quality and musicianship of this record.  George initially intended to have Phil Spector produce this, as he had All Things Must Pass, but Spector’s increasingly erratic behavior, frequent absences, and alcohol abuse led George to minimize his participation in the end, with George instead taking on the production and post-production.  The team consisted of the intimate group of musicians I listed along with a few others – no Eric Clapton to overshadow George, no Billy Preston to compete with Hopkins, no cast of thousands.  As a result, the album has a much less grand, quieter feel than All Things Must Pass, and in particular the production allows George’s guitar work to shine, including his slide-playing style that was like no one else’s.

Having faced tax hurdles to getting the Concert for Bangladesh charitable funds to their intended recipients, George set up the Material World Charitable Foundation and assigned the copyright for the vast majority of the songs on this record, including the hit “Give Me Love,” to that fund.  The organization continues to operate today, and in 2002 the proceeds from the Concert For George were donated to the fund, as are the continuing royalties from a wide variety of George’s works.

Cover art!  Cool stuff here.  The front is a Kirlian photo (don’t worry, I had to look it up, too) of George’s hand holding a Hindu medallion.   There’s also a lot of back and inner packaging that you can read about on Wikipedia as well as I can.  Most notable, though, is that the back cover refers to the ability to join a (fictitious) Jim Keltner Fan Club, if you send a "stamped undressed elephant" to a certain address. Sign me up!!!

Track listing:

  1. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
  2. Sue Me, Sue You Blues
  3. The Light That Has Lighted The World
  4. Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long
  5. Who Can See It
  6. Living In The Material World
  7. The Lord Love The One (That Loves The Lord)
  8. Be Here Now
  9. Try Some, Buy Some
  10. The Day The World Gets ‘Round
  11. That Is All
you nailed it with "longing", kiddo.

'tis an awful thing to be an honest seeker. as i wrote about George in your Beatles204 thread, unlike his bandmates - as artists usually are, products of what they "knew" - Harrison was a product of what he saw. because his bffs happened to be two of the most talented people there ever were, George was offered the chance to be creative AND passive, godly AND humble, which affords the absolute best view of life.

unfortunately, a great view puts one close enough to "the answer" to be driven mad discovering there isnt one. there can't not be an answer, right?! the answer, of course, is that the chance to ask, to wander and wonder, maybe take the place of god for a moment here & there, is the payoff. this can not be argued - as human beings in the present day, we are the culmination of billions of years of earthly progress, God's divine plan, or both. if that ain't enough....

but there's actually more. even God has a horizon. that horizon is love. try some today.

 
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204.  Never Without You (Ringo Rama, 2003)  Spotify  YouTube

(Ringo #13)

This is a legitimately beautifully written song in tribute to Ringo’s (at one time) best friend George, from Ringo’s first album after George’s death.  I know, again, Ringo…voice…whatever.  But in addition to a beautiful melody, and a riff of “What Is Life” right at the beginning of the bridge, the song features George’s other one-time BFF Eric Clapton on some excellent slide guitar, and lyrics that work in references to many of George’s songs.  Crap, I’m all teary again.

Reminder:  songs by one or more Beatles in tribute or in kindness to another Beatle get 52 squillion extra points from me.  This is also not the last time this maxim will arise.

We were young, it was fun
And we couldn't lose
Times were right, overnight
We were headline news
Crazy days and reckless nights
Limousines and bright spotlights
We were brothers through it all

And your songs will play on without you
And this world won't forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on
Never without you (Without you, without you)
Within you, without you (Within you, without you)
Here comes the sun is about you

Here today, not alone
With my memories
Life is strange how things change
It's reality
You played a beautiful melody
That keeps on haunting me
I can always feel you by my side

And your songs will play on without you
And this world won't forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on
Never without you (Without you, without you)
Within you, without you (Within you, without you)
Here comes the sun is about you

I know all things must pass
And only love will last
I'll always love the memory of you and me
Take it away, Eric

And your songs will play on without you
And this world won't forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on
Never without you (Never without you)
Within you without you (Within you without you)

We're never without you
We're never without you
Within you, without you
I think love is about you


&
The intro sounds very Wilbury, except for the Hammond organ, which would never have been allowed on a Wilbury album because Jeff Lynne hates them*.

The slide guitar is fantastic. Who is that guy again?

I love the chorus, both melodically and lyrically. And once again, they've made it work with Ringo's vocal style. 

* - Source: Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who said he wasn't given much to do on the Lynne-produced Into the Great Wide Open because of Lynne's Hammond organ prejudice. 

 
203.  Carl Perkins and Paul McCartney - My Old Friend (Perkins album, Go Cat Go!, 1981)  YouTube (not available on Spotify)

(Paul #91)

Perkins wrote this song in 1981 while he was in Monserrat working with Paul on the Tug Of War sessions, contributing the song “Get It.”  To thank Paul for the invite, he wrote this loving song of appreciation and presented it to Paul, who insisted that Perkins stick around an extra day so that they could record it immediately.

Why was Paul so taken with this song?  From this video interview with Carl and Paul, you can understand why it meant so much to them and why it makes it to my Paul top 100 despite not being written by Paul:

“Half way through the song, after singing ‘if we never meet again this side of life, in a little while, over yonder, where there’s peace and quiet, my old friend, won’t you think about me every now and then?’ tears streamed down Paul’s face and he stood up and stepped outside."  Not knowing what the matter was, Carl stopped, a bit shaken. Didn’t Paul like the song? Linda warmly put her arms around Carl, and thanked him. She said the song was getting Paul to finally connect with his grief over John Lennon’s death.  Linda explained that the last time Paul talked to John, he had said the same line to Paul: 'think about me every now and then, my old friend.’  Carl and Linda were now convinced that the song had been channeled from John Lennon’s spirit, as a gift to Paul.”

:cry:   :cry:   :cry:  

(Also, it’s a great song, with both of them in fine voice.)

Reminder:  songs by one or more Beatles in tribute or in kindness to another Beatle get 52 squillion extra points from me.  This is also not the last time this maxim will arise.
The melody at the beginning sounds a little like Me and Bobby McGee to me. 

This is lovely. And it was a nice touch to drop a Beatles-sounding electric guitar (reminds me of George's licks on Something) on top of an old-school country arrangement. 

 
Even if I go through with it, there will still be plenty of surprises on my end. The only solo Beatle albums I possess are Plastic Ono Band, All Things Must Pass and Cloud Nine (and the Wilbury records if those count). I have listened to Ram and Band on the Run on Youtube in their entirety. And I watched the Rockshow concert film. That's it. Everything else I know is because of the radio or MTV. 
This is why this countdown is so fulfilling for me.  I don't own a single Beatle solo album.  I've heard all the hits, and I've been exposed to plenty of others in the last two years since I've had SiriusXM and listen to the Beatles Channel pretty much all the time I'm in my car.  But at least 80% of these songs so far are new to me.  I wish I had some of the albums.  I would store my Traveling Wilbury Vol. 3 album in a Cool Dry Place.  I am going to listen to some of them in their entirety when I have the chance.  

 
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It feels particularly odd to put this Ringo song right after the stunningly beautiful post from wikkid, but here we are.  Getcha Ringo on!

199.  Back Off Boogaloo (single, 1972)  Spotify  YouTube

(Ringo #12)

This non-album single reached #2 in the US and was co-written and produced by George, who also contributed slide and acoustic guitar to the song.  Guess who else was on it?  That’s right, Voormann and Wright.  Where’s Jim Keltner?  Well, you see, Ringo is a drummer himself. 

Ringo has said that the “boogaloo” came from Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who used the word so often that Ringo incorporated it into his songs:  “He used to speak: 'Back off, boogaloo ... ooh you, boogaloo.' 'Do you want some potatoes?' 'Ooh you, boogaloo!’.”  NOW WE KNOW WHOM TO BLAME.  Too bad he’s dead.  I mean, too bad in the sense that he died tragically in a car accident when he was 29.  But secondarily that we also can’t properly affix blame.

Critics have consistently considered this song an attack by Ringo on Paul, especially the lyrics of the middle eight, but Ringo has insisted that it was inspired by Bolan, and the middle eight by a football commentator who regularly called plays “tasty,” and there’s nothing more to it.  Considering how affable Ringo is, I tend to believe him; there’s a whole lot about this interpretation you can read if you’re so inclined, but I think it’s all rubbish. 

The song has a great heavy feel, with fantastic Ringo-ing that sounds a bit military to my ears (which I find oddly appealing), repetitive and hypnotic.  George’s slide guitar is mwahhhhk (that’s the sound of me making that Italian kiss sound using my finger and lips, and looking to the sky).  The soulful backing vocals are fantastic.  My only negative on this song, which is a pretty big one, are those lyrics.  Gah.  So pointless.  And yes, I'm aware that "boogaloo" has a different connotation now that makes this an even more difficult listen.

This is a song that Ringo has loved enough to have released it three times on three different albums.  Hold on, I’m told that Ringo has released many of his songs multiple times on many different albums, including multiple recordings of "Goodnight Vienna," "It Don’t Come Easy," "Act Naturally," and "Wings," among others.  No wonder I had to wade through so many albums.  Get more new material, Ringo! 

 
Wake up!  Paul wants to mumble-shout at you!

202.  Wings – Mumbo (Wild Life, 1971)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #90)

This was just a spontaneous jam that got recorded (though some overdubs were later added) – Paul’s “Take it, Tony!” at the beginning was his direction to the engineer in the middle of the jam to start recording, but Tony (Clark) had been a step ahead and already begun the recording when he heard the jam getting good.  The song not being a fully formed song is evident from the lyrics…or whatever they are.  It’s more a series of grunts and mumbles.  I’m writing up my #90 Paul as if I don’t like it, when clearly I do; it’s a great rock jam with a bunch of interesting guitar riffs, good organ parts, and a strong gritty vocal.   If it were a fully realized song, it could be much higher.  Great fun, though; turn up the volume for this one.
The vocal is Paul parodying himself. Or maybe parodying John Fogerty. But the jam is good, especially the organ interludes. 

Yep, the more this song progresses, the more I think it's a knockoff of CCR stuff like Ramble Tamble. 

 
Where’s Jim Keltner?  Well, you see, Ringo is a drummer himself. 
Remember how I mentioned how Stop and Smell the Roses made that 100 Worst Rock and Roll Records book from the late '80s?

One of the things the authors said in that entry was that Ringo was too wasted to play drums for much of the sessions, and most of the drums were played by Jim Keltner, including on, of all things, Drumming Is My Madness. 

 
It feels particularly odd to put this Ringo song right after the stunningly beautiful post from wikkid, but here we are.  Getcha Ringo on!

199.  Back Off Boogaloo (single, 1972)  Spotify  YouTube

(Ringo #12)

This non-album single reached #2 in the US and was co-written and produced by George, who also contributed slide and acoustic guitar to the song.  Guess who else was on it?  That’s right, Voormann and Wright.  Where’s Jim Keltner?  Well, you see, Ringo is a drummer himself. 

Ringo has said that the “boogaloo” came from Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who used the word so often that Ringo incorporated it into his songs:  “He used to speak: 'Back off, boogaloo ... ooh you, boogaloo.' 'Do you want some potatoes?' 'Ooh you, boogaloo!’.”  NOW WE KNOW WHOM TO BLAME.  Too bad he’s dead.  I mean, too bad in the sense that he died tragically in a car accident when he was 29.  But secondarily that we also can’t properly affix blame.

Critics have consistently considered this song an attack by Ringo on Paul, especially the lyrics of the middle eight, but Ringo has insisted that it was inspired by Bolan, and the middle eight by a football commentator who regularly called plays “tasty,” and there’s nothing more to it.  Considering how affable Ringo is, I tend to believe him; there’s a whole lot about this interpretation you can read if you’re so inclined, but I think it’s all rubbish. 

The song has a great heavy feel, with fantastic Ringo-ing that sounds a bit military to my ears (which I find oddly appealing), repetitive and hypnotic.  George’s slide guitar is mwahhhhk (that’s the sound of me making that Italian kiss sound using my finger and lips, and looking to the sky).  The soulful backing vocals are fantastic.  My only negative on this song, which is a pretty big one, are those lyrics.  Gah.  So pointless.  And yes, I'm aware that "boogaloo" has a different connotation now that makes this an even more difficult listen.

This is a song that Ringo has loved enough to have released it three times on three different albums.  Hold on, I’m told that Ringo has released many of his songs multiple times on many different albums, including multiple recordings of "Goodnight Vienna," "It Don’t Come Easy," "Act Naturally," and "Wings," among others.  No wonder I had to wade through so many albums.  Get more new material, Ringo! 
:lmao:

 
krista4 said:
201.  Old Dirt Road (Walls And Bridges, 1974)  Spotify  YouTube

(John #41)

With John having pulled back from the debauchery of the Lost Weekend, he and Harry Nilsson had returned to NY to complete Nilsson’s ##### Cats album as well as to begin recording of John’s Walls And Bridges.  While writing this song, John asked Nilsson for “an Americanism.”  Nilsson came up with “trying to shovel smoke with a pitchfork in the wind,” and a shared songwriting credit was born.  In addition to “co-writing,” Nilsson provided backing vocals on this track.  This mellow number is perfectly lovely in every way, but the highlights for me are the electric guitar work and, even more so, the beautiful piano parts from Nicky Hopkins.
This is top Hopkins here indeed. The song kind of reminds me of a strung-out Stones ballad like some of the stuff on Sticky Fingers, or Winter, or Memory Motel. In fact, that guitar kind of sounds like Mick Taylor. 

 
I forgot I still owed one.  And hey look, we're at the top 200!

200.  The Lord Loves The One (That Loves The Lord) (Living In The Material World, 1973)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #59)

This is one of the many songs on Living In The Material World that could be interpreted as an exhortation from George that we’d better get our #### together like he has if we want eternal life, but again I believe the better interpretation is one of the inner conflict George is himself facing and his fervent desire to reconcile his Earthly delights with his spiritual wants to find a higher level of consciousness.  The lyrics in fact clearly denigrate George’s experiences themselves, speaking of the folly of being a celebrated rock star in the face of a relationship with God, this being the most important goal in life.  The song’s focus on karma and the unimportance of human (rather than eternal) existence could be seen not as a warning to others, but as reminder from George to himself to uphold the spiritual teachings that he preached.

Whatever your feeling on the lyrics, this song is musically exquisite, with tasteful (not overbearing!) sax by the aptly named Jim Horn, rich organ parts by Hopkins, and terrific drumming and percussion by Keltner.  But the stars of the show are first, George’s soaring vocal, and most especially George’s mesmerizing slide guitar.  Those guitar parts literally give me chills, even after a billion listens.  Together, these parts meld into a gospel-worthy but surprisingly upbeat confection.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I played some of my top George songs for OH just to see if he vomited on them (he did on some, but I included them anyway).  His reaction to this one:  “It’s pretty good.  It’s like the theme song for a sitcom about Jesus.”
And this kind of sounds like the title track of Let It Bleed. The way the horns and the slide guitar play off each other is very Stones-y. Why am I hearing the Stones everywhere all of the sudden? 

"The Lord says whatever you do is going to come back on you." Yeah, I wonder why people thought George was proselytizing? 

 
It feels particularly odd to put this Ringo song right after the stunningly beautiful post from wikkid, but here we are.  Getcha Ringo on!

199.  Back Off Boogaloo (single, 1972)  Spotify  YouTube

(Ringo #12)

This non-album single reached #2 in the US and was co-written and produced by George, who also contributed slide and acoustic guitar to the song.  Guess who else was on it?  That’s right, Voormann and Wright.  Where’s Jim Keltner?  Well, you see, Ringo is a drummer himself. 

Ringo has said that the “boogaloo” came from Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who used the word so often that Ringo incorporated it into his songs:  “He used to speak: 'Back off, boogaloo ... ooh you, boogaloo.' 'Do you want some potatoes?' 'Ooh you, boogaloo!’.”  NOW WE KNOW WHOM TO BLAME.  Too bad he’s dead.  I mean, too bad in the sense that he died tragically in a car accident when he was 29.  But secondarily that we also can’t properly affix blame.

Critics have consistently considered this song an attack by Ringo on Paul, especially the lyrics of the middle eight, but Ringo has insisted that it was inspired by Bolan, and the middle eight by a football commentator who regularly called plays “tasty,” and there’s nothing more to it.  Considering how affable Ringo is, I tend to believe him; there’s a whole lot about this interpretation you can read if you’re so inclined, but I think it’s all rubbish. 

The song has a great heavy feel, with fantastic Ringo-ing that sounds a bit military to my ears (which I find oddly appealing), repetitive and hypnotic.  George’s slide guitar is mwahhhhk (that’s the sound of me making that Italian kiss sound using my finger and lips, and looking to the sky).  The soulful backing vocals are fantastic.  My only negative on this song, which is a pretty big one, are those lyrics.  Gah.  So pointless.  And yes, I'm aware that "boogaloo" has a different connotation now that makes this an even more difficult listen.

This is a song that Ringo has loved enough to have released it three times on three different albums.  Hold on, I’m told that Ringo has released many of his songs multiple times on many different albums, including multiple recordings of "Goodnight Vienna," "It Don’t Come Easy," "Act Naturally," and "Wings," among others.  No wonder I had to wade through so many albums.  Get more new material, Ringo! 
I always thought this was a fun one, and I'm surprised it's this far down. If it's got a good beat and you can dance to it, the lyrics don't need to be top-notch. 

ETA: This is also the template for David Essex' "Rock On." Essex sings "hey, kids, rock and roll" the exact same way Ringo sings "back off, boogaloo." Make of that what you will. 

 
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Remember how I mentioned how Stop and Smell the Roses made that 100 Worst Rock and Roll Records book from the late '80s?

One of the things the authors said in that entry was that Ringo was too wasted to play drums for much of the sessions, and most of the drums were played by Jim Keltner, including on, of all things, Drumming Is My Madness. 
It's very easy to tell when Ringo is drumming as opposed to Keltner.  But that's not to say Keltner didn't contribute on that record or on other Ringo songs.  I was just going for the joke.  In fact my next Ringo song has both Ringo and Keltner on it.

 
It feels particularly odd to put this Ringo song right after the stunningly beautiful post from wikkid, but here we are.  Getcha Ringo on!

199.  Back Off Boogaloo (single, 1972)  Spotify  YouTube

(Ringo #12)

This non-album single reached #2 in the US and was co-written and produced by George, who also contributed slide and acoustic guitar to the song.  Guess who else was on it?  That’s right, Voormann and Wright.  Where’s Jim Keltner?  Well, you see, Ringo is a drummer himself. 

Ringo has said that the “boogaloo” came from Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who used the word so often that Ringo incorporated it into his songs:  “He used to speak: 'Back off, boogaloo ... ooh you, boogaloo.' 'Do you want some potatoes?' 'Ooh you, boogaloo!’.”  NOW WE KNOW WHOM TO BLAME.  Too bad he’s dead.  I mean, too bad in the sense that he died tragically in a car accident when he was 29.  But secondarily that we also can’t properly affix blame.

Critics have consistently considered this song an attack by Ringo on Paul, especially the lyrics of the middle eight, but Ringo has insisted that it was inspired by Bolan, and the middle eight by a football commentator who regularly called plays “tasty,” and there’s nothing more to it.  Considering how affable Ringo is, I tend to believe him; there’s a whole lot about this interpretation you can read if you’re so inclined, but I think it’s all rubbish. 

The song has a great heavy feel, with fantastic Ringo-ing that sounds a bit military to my ears (which I find oddly appealing), repetitive and hypnotic.  George’s slide guitar is mwahhhhk (that’s the sound of me making that Italian kiss sound using my finger and lips, and looking to the sky).  The soulful backing vocals are fantastic.  My only negative on this song, which is a pretty big one, are those lyrics.  Gah.  So pointless.  And yes, I'm aware that "boogaloo" has a different connotation now that makes this an even more difficult listen.

This is a song that Ringo has loved enough to have released it three times on three different albums.  Hold on, I’m told that Ringo has released many of his songs multiple times on many different albums, including multiple recordings of "Goodnight Vienna," "It Don’t Come Easy," "Act Naturally," and "Wings," among others.  No wonder I had to wade through so many albums.  Get more new material, Ringo! 
This song is soooooooo Ringo. I'm a little surprised it's this low, but not really, if that makes any sense.

As to the bolded, this is why he has All-Starrs in his band. Everybody brings two hits to the setlist. (I may have mentioned that before in this thread, as I find it refreshingly honest - the guy says "yea, I really can't carry an entire concert - Gregg Rolie, you do some Santana stuff. Richard Page, you're good with singing Broken Wings and Kyrie, right? Todd, you can join us as long as we hear I Saw the Light and Hello It's Me."

 
This song is soooooooo Ringo. I'm a little surprised it's this low, but not really, if that makes any sense.

As to the bolded, this is why he has All-Starrs in his band. Everybody brings two hits to the setlist. (I may have mentioned that before in this thread, as I find it refreshingly honest - the guy says "yea, I really can't carry an entire concert - Gregg Rolie, you do some Santana stuff. Richard Page, you're good with singing Broken Wings and Kyrie, right? Todd, you can join us as long as we hear I Saw the Light and Hello It's Me."
This is great and something I didn't know.  My #1 priority if concerts are ever a thing again is to see a Ringo show.

 
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---INTERLUDE – Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976)---

The release of Thirty Three & 1/3 in 1976 was followed by the three-year long break that I described in the write-up for George Harrison.  This performed moderately better than its immediate predecessors, the ill-fated Dark Horse and the mediocre Extra Texture, reaching #11 on the US charts and achieving Gold status, led in part by the mild success of singles “This Song” (peaking at #26) and “Crackerbox Palace” (#19).  In this instance, critics reacted more favorably than the public, with the record garnering George reviews that were the most positive since All Things Must Pass, hailing this as an “upbeat return to pop form” that highlighted George’s terrific slide guitar work and “the most varied and tuneful collection of Harrison melodies to date.”  I tend to side with the critics on this, as half of the songs from this album made it onto my countdown, and I think the melodies are particularly notable, including a top pick on my list that just drives me mad with its melodic changes.

I should just set up an auto-fill on my keyboard for this, but here we go:  for this record, George assembled many of his trusted long-time collaborators including Wright, Weeks, Preston, and Tom Scott, with Alvin Scott (not Jim Keltner!) contributing on drums.  George produced this one himself, with assistance from Tom Scott.

The title of the album refers not just to an LP but to George’s age at the time of recording.  Not mentioned in the title is George’s health at the time of recording, which was ####e.  He’s not only continued his diet of heavy alcohol and cocaine use, but he’d contracted hepatitis not long after he began recording, which led to his giving up alcohol, at least for a time.  The delay in the recording and delivery of the record to his record company led them to sue him, which was really just an excuse for them to get out of a bad deal that they’d struck when they ended up with Dark Horse and Extra Texture.  George recovered well enough to put together this beautiful collection of songs, which were the first release on his Dark Horse label.  Take that, jerkfaces.

Cover art – hmph

Track listing:

  1. Woman Don’t You Cry For Me
  2. Dear One
  3. Beautiful Girl
  4. This Song
  5. See Yourself
  6. It’s What You Value
  7. True Love
  8. Pure Smokey
  9. Crackerbox Palace
  10. Learning How To Love You
 
Trying to distract from that underwhelming write-up by immediately posting a song.  Maybe no one will notice.

198.  True Love (Thirty Three & 1/3, 1976)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #58)

This cover of a Cole Porter song from the film High Society is most notable for the fact that George pronounces “twue wuv” the way this guy did.  It's very distracting!  Other than that, this is a terrific cover by George of a song that the Beatles often played in their Hamburg days, and he gives it, as they did, some extra oomph by speeding up the tempo and, in this case, changing some chords because Cole Porter “got them wrong” (I believe George was just joking when he said that, but he did say it!).  Is it kind of cheesy?  Sure!  But I love George’s slide guitar (are you tired of reading those words yet?), the uptempo melody, and his cheekiness.  And since I wasn’t a fan of the original, I’m not bothered by the blasphemy involved.  And frankly George’s chords are better.  As a bonus, there’s this music video featuring a handlebar-mustachioed George as a gondolier wooing an uninterested lady and…hijinks ensue.   

 
This is great and something I didn't know.  My #1 priority if concerts are ever a thing again is to see a Ringo show.
I hope he tours again and you get to see him. It's a really good show with a great vibe - Ringo is just so joyful doing what he does. Plus, you get to hear other stuff - I saw his band with the three guys I mentioned, plus Steve Lukather from Toto. So besides everything you wanted to hear from Ringo (including a few of his Beatles vocals), we got Rosanna/Africa, the Mr. Mister stuff, Todd Rundgren's two big hits, two Santana songs - was a fun show without a down moment. I saw him at Bethel Woods (Woodstock site).

I'm glad I got see a Beatle live. Never saw John or George, and ticket cost for Paul's shows were/are almost prohibitive. I don't mind paying for a show, but his were crazy, like $400 a seat for nosebleeds. No thanks, Beatle or not. 

 
You've never seen Ringo and his all stars?! They are great fun and usually pretty cheap too.
Funny, I just mentioned Paul's ridiculous ticket prices. Indeed, Ringo's prices were (surprisingly) low. I paid more to see Blue Oyster Cult in 2016!  

 
Trying to distract from that underwhelming write-up by immediately posting a song.  Maybe no one will notice.

198.  True Love (Thirty Three & 1/3, 1976)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #58)

This cover of a Cole Porter song from the film High Society is most notable for the fact that George pronounces “twue wuv” the way this guy did.  It's very distracting!  Other than that, this is a terrific cover by George of a song that the Beatles often played in their Hamburg days, and he gives it, as they did, some extra oomph by speeding up the tempo and, in this case, changing some chords because Cole Porter “got them wrong” (I believe George was just joking when he said that, but he did say it!).  Is it kind of cheesy?  Sure!  But I love George’s slide guitar (are you tired of reading those words yet?), the uptempo melody, and his cheekiness.  And since I wasn’t a fan of the original, I’m not bothered by the blasphemy involved.  And frankly George’s chords are better.  As a bonus, there’s this music video featuring a handlebar-mustachioed George as a gondolier wooing an uninterested lady and…hijinks ensue.   
I love a good musical, and this song is fine in its original iteration, but George does add to it with this one.  Great song.  

 
You've never seen Ringo and his all stars?! They are great fun and usually pretty cheap too.


I hope he tours again and you get to see him. It's a really good show with a great vibe - Ringo is just so joyful doing what he does. Plus, you get to hear other stuff - I saw his band with the three guys I mentioned, plus Steve Lukather from Toto. So besides everything you wanted to hear from Ringo (including a few of his Beatles vocals), we got Rosanna/Africa, the Mr. Mister stuff, Todd Rundgren's two big hits, two Santana songs - was a fun show without a down moment. I saw him at Bethel Woods (Woodstock site).

I'm glad I got see a Beatle live. Never saw John or George, and ticket cost for Paul's shows were/are almost prohibitive. I don't mind paying for a show, but his were crazy, like $400 a seat for nosebleeds. No thanks, Beatle or not. 
I've never gone because - and this is going to be a shock - I don't enjoy that many Ringo songs.  As much as I love Ringo in personality and drumming, I wasn't sure I could face a whole show of his songs.  I'd changed my mind recently anyway, but y'all convinced me even more.

I've seen Paul twice, once at the United Center in Chicago during his 2005 tour, when someone gave me tickets, and then last year in Vancouver, when I had to pay for them.  Yeah, :moneybag:  to get in to those shows last year.

 
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As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never seen Paul or Ringo live. I would have gone to see George anytime after 1987, but the last time he toured the US, I was 3 years old.

 
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I saw Paul at the Silverdome in the early 90's and paid the most I ever had for a ticket up to that point $125. That was like 3x the cost of most concerts at the time but was well worth it-- best concert I ever saw despite being in the Silverdome. He played 2+ hours and at least a dozen Beatle songs.

The only downer was before he came on they showed some weird animal torture video to protest us eating meat. Could only buy fake meat hotdogs/sausages that were totally nasty.

Couldn't afford to see him anymore after that at $200-$400/ticket.

Saw Ringo either that same summer or the next with Jack Bruce,Frampton and others for $10.

 
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Trying to distract from that underwhelming write-up by immediately posting a song.  Maybe no one will notice.

198.  True Love (Thirty Three & 1/3, 1976)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #58)

This cover of a Cole Porter song from the film High Society is most notable for the fact that George pronounces “twue wuv” the way this guy did.  It's very distracting!  Other than that, this is a terrific cover by George of a song that the Beatles often played in their Hamburg days, and he gives it, as they did, some extra oomph by speeding up the tempo and, in this case, changing some chords because Cole Porter “got them wrong” (I believe George was just joking when he said that, but he did say it!).  Is it kind of cheesy?  Sure!  But I love George’s slide guitar (are you tired of reading those words yet?), the uptempo melody, and his cheekiness.  And since I wasn’t a fan of the original, I’m not bothered by the blasphemy involved.  And frankly George’s chords are better.  As a bonus, there’s this music video featuring a handlebar-mustachioed George as a gondolier wooing an uninterested lady and…hijinks ensue.   
I would never have known this wasn't a George original if you hadn't told me. Everything about is George. Which is all right in my book.

George was friends with the Monty Python guys. In the video, it's as if he's in one of their sketches. 

 
---MINI-LUDE –John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)---

This record, like All Things Must Pass and Band On The Run, feels like it needs no introduction, or rather any ---INTERLUDE---, but just in case an asteroid hits and leaves nothing but this thread for historical record, which could totally happen, I’ll type out a little in a new and innovative concept, the ---MINI-LUDE---.

From the time it was released in 1970 (on the same day as the similarly titled and packaged album by Yoko), this has been considered John’s masterpiece, never to be repeated.  And of course it couldn’t be repeated, given the source of the songs was a deep emotional cleansing that couldn’t have been re-attempted with the same honesty and depth.  That doesn’t mean this was immediately a hit with the public, though it did reach #6 on the US charts.  As Ringo termed it, the album didn’t contain any “toe-tappers” that would result in hit songs. 

Ringo was right; these songs weren’t put together to be commercial or to provide a laid-back listening experience.  Instead, the album’s songs arose from the five months of primal scream therapy that John and Yoko undertook under the guidance of Arthur Janov, the psychotherapist who developed the therapy, which (I’m simplifying this significantly) encourages patients to relive repressed traumatic experiences and feelings from childhood in the belief that the repression of such memories leads to untold emotional damage in adults.  When John and Yoko received Janov’s book in the mail from its publisher, which circulated the book unrequested to famous people hoping to find some endorsements in advance of its publication, John turned to Yoko and said, “It’s you,” in reference to her vocal stylings, and after devouring the book quickly became convinced this was exactly what he needed.  Though this form of therapy remains controversial to say the least, it resonated with John, who’d suffered, among other things, the near-full abandonment by his father, his shuttling at the age of six to his Aunt Mimi to be raised by her, and then the death of his mother Julia in a car accident when he was 18.  In the midst of his therapy, however, visa issues brought it to an abrupt end.  To continue using the therapeutic experiences he'd learned with Janov, John then composed the most personal and intense songs of his life, directly addressing his feelings of abandonment and other suffering by unleashing a torrent of raw pain.  Not even “Help!” had been so blunt in relaying his visceral emotion.  Although John did not set out to make a commercial record, he did believe that the feelings he expressed were universal, and in that sense he wasn’t simply acting out his own needs but hoped that the audience could connect and recognize their own stories within the songs. 

As with the lyrical content of the songs, the production of this album was likewise raw and stark, which might be a surprise given that Phil Spector was involved.  Unlike Spector’s usual Wall of Sound, these were produced in a simple, sparse style, but with an in-your-face intensity.  In addition to John’s use of his guitar in a primitive (John’s word) style to accentuate the honesty of the lyrics, he also instructed his tiny band – consisting only of Voormann and Ringo for the vast majority of the material – to adopt this same primitive style.  The idea, they were told, was not to strive for perfection but to play with honest energy.  Their tight playing on these songs provides a strong foundation and an energy for the overlay of John’s lyrical and musical brutality.

Each song on this album other than the 49-second “My Mummy’s Dead” will be on my countdown.  These songs so clearly and directly speak for themselves that I needn’t say any more, but I’m sure I will anyway. 

The cover art is a photo taken of John and Yoko at their estate by one of their assistants; a nearly identical photo graces the cover of Yoko's simultaneously released album, except with the two of them switched in position.  It's such a peaceful and serene cover considering what's inside. 

Track listing:

  1. Mother
  2. Hold On
  3. I Found Out
  4. Working Class Hero
  5. Isolation
  6. Remember
  7. Love
  8. Well Well Well
  9. Look At Me
  10. God
  11. My Mummy’s Dead
 
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I'd taken to just writing up albums the past couple of days, because I haven't had the heart for ranking and re-ranking.  Today I'm listening to John songs again and realizing that, other than the first 3-4, I could randomly select them out of a hat and probably get just as accurate a representation of my preferences from day to day.  

 
Exhibit #2: Wild Life, a song to people who don’t appreciate animals

  • That he recognizes the potential preachiness of the subject matter and so on at least two occasions changes “animals” to “aminals.” 


Exhibit #3: Some People Never Know, a song to @krista4
Getting back to this, I realized that I don't want to respond too much, because a "well, here's why I don't like these" gets into the kind of back-and-forth I have precisely zero interest in.  I love the post and hearing what you love/like/dislike/hate in these, so I encourage differing opinions on these songs!  Given some earlier comments, I know that some of people's favorites did not make my list at all; some because I despise the song, some just based on multiple cuts and trying to get the number of songs for discussion down to a more reasonable number. 

I will say, as to the two above:

1.   Wild Life was on my initial list of Paul songs I enjoy the most, which numbered something like 250, and in fact made it through the second set of cuts as well.  It's the vocal, which I love, that kept it on the list for so long, plus I note that I love his saying "aminals."  :lol:   I didn't write down why it didn't make the final cut, but I suspect it's the length, as it starts to wear on me after a while.  Still, a solid song that will be on my supplemental "Favorite post-Beatles Beatles songs 291-580" list.  I am NOT serious about that.

2.  Some People Never Know didn't make the first cut, but I think it's a nice enough song.  My problem with it is the opposite of something you like:  the lyrics.  For humor only, I'll say that OH's only comment on this one was "I'm afraid I'm going to remain one of those people."

 
krista4 said:
201.  Old Dirt Road (Walls And Bridges, 1974)  Spotify  YouTube

(John #41)

With John having pulled back from the debauchery of the Lost Weekend, he and Harry Nilsson had returned to NY to complete Nilsson’s ##### Cats album as well as to begin recording of John’s Walls And Bridges.  While writing this song, John asked Nilsson for “an Americanism.”  Nilsson came up with “trying to shovel smoke with a pitchfork in the wind,” and a shared songwriting credit was born.  In addition to “co-writing,” Nilsson provided backing vocals on this track.  This mellow number is perfectly lovely in every way, but the highlights for me are the electric guitar work and, even more so, the beautiful piano parts from Nicky Hopkins.
Love the piano. I think I just found tonights bonfire album!!

 
197.  John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band – Remember (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, 1970)  Spotify  YouTube

(John #40)

The melody for this song was adapted from an earlier John composition called “Across The Great Water,” which he had worked on in early 1970.  In the studio, however, John’s harsh pounding of the piano keys and the driving rhythms from Voormann and Ringo made it into much more of a rocker.  Voormann’s and Ringo’s work on this song is outstanding in my opinion – they really keep it all together as John combines different meters and tempos in a way that sounds a bit random. 

The lyrics are, as with the rest of this album, describing memories of John’s unstable childhood, revealed in his therapy, that he was working out through the songs.  The lyrics of the verses relay childhood memories of adults acting “phony” and seeing everything in black-and-white, with “heroes” and “villains” playing their parts…I’m just going to copy the lyrics below for you to form your own opinions on all of this, since interpretations vary and these songs were meant for us each to take in based on our own experiences. 

One notable portion of the song is an adaptation of the first lines of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me.”  Cooke’s lines,  “If you ever change your mind, about leaving, leaving me behind” become “If you ever change your mind, about leaving it all behind” and then go on, “Remember, remember today” before leading into the first chorus, if anything in this song could reasonably be called a chorus:  “Don't feel sorry the way it's gone, and don't you worry about what you've done.” Though Cooke in his song is inviting a lover to join him, in the context of John’s song, the adapted lyrics seem to encourage one to address the past but then leave it behind, and even more importantly to remember this moment of clarity and calm, which will undoubtedly be challenged when the past causes pain again in the future.

Speaking of that “chorus,” it’s the most musically pleasing part of the song to me, slowing the beat down for a beautiful melody before the driving beat resumes.  After the second “chorus,” as John once again reminds us to “remember,” he suddenly explodes into a scream of “the fifth of November” followed by the sound of an explosion.   The reference of “remember, remember, the 5th of November” is to a nursery rhyme about Guy Fawkes Night.  John ad-libbed that line and then cut the rest of the song off and added the explosion:  “In England it’s the day they blew up the Houses of Parliament. We celebrate it by having bonfires every November the fifth. It was just an ad lib. It was about the third take, and it begins to sound like Frankie Laine – when you’re singing ‘remember, remember the fifth of November.’ And I just broke and it went on for about another seven or eight minutes. I was just ad libbing and goofing about. But then I cut it there and it just exploded ’cause it was a good joke.”

The song was recorded on John’s 30th birthday (10/9/70).  George stopped by Abbey Road Studios in his Ferrari that day to wish John a happy birthday and give him a plastic flower in celebration; the two had a nice visit in a break from John’s recording of the song.  A not-so-successful visit occurred the same day, as John had invited his father, Alf Lennon, for lunch.  Alf, his wife, and their 18-month-old son (whom John had never met) joined John, but the get-together turned into a lengthy tirade by John against his father, utilizing learnings from his primal scream therapy .  According to Alf, John, becoming ever more angry and ending in screams, described the therapy he had undergone and shouted about his dead mother “in unspeakable terms,” then turning to similar rants against his Aunt Mimi and some of his close friends, before comparing himself to Hendrix and others who had died and calling himself “bloody mad, insane” and predicting an early death for himself as well.  Alf concluded:  “There was no doubt whatsoever in my mind, that he meant every word he spoke, his countenance was frightful to behold, as he explained in detail, how I would be carried out to sea and dumped, ‘twenty – fifty – or perhaps you would prefer a hundred fathoms deep.’ The whole loathsome tirade was uttered with malignant glee, as though he were actually participating in the terrible deed.”  This was the last time that John ever saw his father.

Remember when you were young
How the hero was never hung
Always got away

Remember how the man
Used to leave you empty handed
Always, always let you down


If you ever change your mind
About leaving it all behind
Remember, remember today
Hey hey

Don't feel sorry
The way it's gone
And don't you worry
About what you've done


Just remember
When you were small
How people seemed so tall
Always had their way
Hey hey

Do you remember your ma and pa
Just wishing for movie stardom
Always, always playing a part


If you ever feel so sad
And the whole world is driving you mad
Remember, remember today
Hey hey

Don't feel sorry
About the way it's gone
Don't you worry
About what you've done


Remember
Remember, the Fifth of November


&

196.  John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Look At Me (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, 1970)  Spotify  YouTube

(John #39)

Just going to throw this one up here today as well, since it’s from the same album. 

John began writing this song in 1968 while the Beatles were with the maharishi in India and picked it up again during this time when he realized how relevant the lyrics were to his therapeutic sessions:  “Who am I supposed to be?”  “What am I supposed to do?” “Who am I?”  The finger-picking guitar style will sound familiar as the style they’d learned from Donovan on that trip and often adopted for tracks on the White Album, notably including “Julia.”  The song doesn’t showcase any exciting twists or turns, but I love that repeating pattern as he increases the urgency of the questions just slightly on each turn.  The highlight of the song for me is John’s highly vulnerable double-tracked vocal. 

 

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