2022 FBG, 172 to 1 Beatles Countdown 1-25 lists... And 173 to 1 Countdown from 1-64 lists! (2 Viewers)

[Zegras11]

What Goes On
2022 Ranking: 148T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 12
Ranked Highest by: @Dennis Castro (14)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 123T/1/8

Getz: Features Ringo singing.  Not high on this one.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  158

2019 write-up:

What Goes On (Rubber Soul, 1965)

When I said this was going to be a Ringo-friendly thread, I was referring to his drumming (which I'll discuss in detail at another time), but i do love Ringo's singing voice as well and think it serves this song well with its straightforward self-assuredness.  This was originally a John-penned composition, in their Quarrymen days, which was later updated and expanded with contributions from Paul and Ringo to make it Ringo's first songwriting credit and a rare (or maybe the only?) John/Paul/Ringo-shared credit.  Ringo was once quoted as saying something along the lines that his contribution was "about five words of it, and I haven't done a thing since!"  God I love Ringo.

This song has such a fine rockabilly feel that for years I thought it was a cover.  Ringo is, as always, a metronome, but I think Paul's bass and George's C&W-swingy guitar work shine on this one.

Mr. krista:  "Yeah, this is good."

Suggested cover:  Sufjan Stevens  Well, this is interesting at least.  Wait through the first 40 seconds; it picks up.

2022 Supplement:  I might move this one down a little today; it’s kind of bland even though Ringo gives it his best and the song fits his voice well.  The lyrics sound more typically John and are hard to imagine from sunny “peace and love” Ringo.  Though this was originally a John composition, by most accounts Paul took it over and helped Ringo to understand it before giving it to him for finishing touches.  According to Neil Aspinall, Paul made a multi-track tape for Ringo of Paul on guitar, bass, and drums, along with singing the lead (shades of the album McCartney to come?), to show him how it should sound.

Ringo, as we know, didn’t write much for the Beatles:  “I used to wish that I could write songs like the others - and I've tried, but I just can't. I can get the words all right, but whenever I think of a tune and sing it to the others they always say, 'Yeah, it sounds like such-a-thing,' and when they point it out I see what they mean.”  Ringo did develop his songwriting skills a bit more in his solo work, but we can safely say it never became his strength.

Guido Merkins

When the Beatles first hit it big, there was much discussion about the “First 100” which were songs that John and Paul had written that were ready to be recorded.  The truth is, very few of those songs ever saw the light of day.  One of them was What Goes On, which John claims he wrote during the Quarrymen, then resurrected with help from Paul and Ringo, hence the first and only Lennon/McCartney/Starkey song.  This song was done so Ringo would have a song for the Rubber Soul album as the Beatles were no longer putting covers on their albums.

The most distinguishing feature of the song was the rockabilly guitar by George throughout.  And harmony vocals by John and Paul. Ringo’s love for country music comes through here, just as on Act Naturally, and would continue later with Don’t Pass Me By and even solo Ringo’s A Beaucoup of Blues.

 

[Zegras11]

Chalk Rankings Top 10. #148T = 24.5 pts each. Sponsored by: AAABatteries' **** mittens

1 --Krista (Mom)---57.5

2 --anarchy99---55

3 --Krista (Mom/Hub)---36

4 --Krista (TJ/Holly)---28

5 --Krista (Sharon)---24.5

6 --Dennis Castro---24.5

7 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---23

8 --John Maddens Lunchbox---23

9 --Encyclopedia Brown---20

10 --ManOfSteelhead---19.5

 

[simey]

I'm not a big Sonny & Cher fan - on any level. 

I loved their show when I was growing up. The guests always had fun on there. There was singing, and a bunch of sketches. They always did a Vamp sketch.

She was a scamp, a camp, and a bit of a tramp
She was V A M P
Vamp

 

[BobbyLayne]

Happy 89th Birthday to Yoko Ono

from all her adoring FBG stans 

 

[simey]

What Goes On

 

 

[simey]

Happy 89th Birthday to Yoko Ono

Wow, she is 89? I don't know if she has had any work done, but she looks great.

 

[zamboni]

Just my own personal taste, but “What Goes On” is probably my least favorite song so far. Ringo’s voice is pretty monotonous and the song IMO is probably the only weak spot on Rubber Soul.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Happy 89th Birthday to Yoko Ono

from all her adoring FBG stans 

I always forget that she was quite a bit older than John. 89, wow.

Put another way, she was born about halfway between the birth of George and the birth of Betty White. 

 

[Zegras11]

Don’t Pass Me By
2022 Ranking: 148T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 12
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Mom/hub) (14)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 135T/1/2

Getz: First list to appear four times and now front runner for least Chalky list. Another Ringo!

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  119

2019 write-up:

Don't Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)

I might be the only person in the world who loves this song, and I'll admit that it took me a long while to appreciate it as well.  I dunno, maybe Ringo's mom did at the time or something.  The song lacks coherent structure, it meanders, and the lyrics aren't compelling.  For a long time I considered this song "plodding," and I guess I still do.  My love for this is 100% about the violin parts.  They are all off-kilter and almost disturbing to listen to, which makes me so intrigued that it's all I hear.  I'd love an entire album just of that violin.  It doesn't even sound like part of the song, as if the guy were wandering around playing something else entirely.  This is a song for which my enjoyment builds every time I listen.  That ####### violin. What is he doing?

Mr. krista:  [In response to plodding comment.]  "It’s great.  I love plodding.  It’s a marching song!  Who gives a ####, that’s a mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.

2022 Supplement:  Woo-hoo!  I thought that OH and I were the only people who loved this song, so I’m happy to see it make the list.  Welcome to the countdown, little song!  In 2019, I hadn’t delved much into Ringo’s solo catalog, so I didn’t realize until I did for my solo Beatles countdown that Ringo was such a HUGE country music fan.  [NOTE:  I wrote this record up in the solo countdown, but I recommend checking out Ringo’s album Beaucoups of Blues, in particular the title song, to get a feel for what happens when you put Ringo with the best session musicians in Nashville.  It’s wonderful!  Hey, why don’t I just link the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI-ep4XBf8w ]

Though this song was written by Ringo, according to the fiddle player Jack Fallon (who happened to have been the booking agent for some of the Beatles 1962 shows), both George Martin and Paul were instrumental (see what I did there?) in the arranging of the fiddle part.  Given that this song sat around for several years before they finally recorded it, it’s cool to hear that those guys were interested enough to handle the arrangement.  Well, some of them were, anyway – Paul and Ringo are the only two Beatles playing on the song.  According to Fallon, George Martin and Paul made some changes that took away from the original country feel, but everyone seemed pleased with the song in the end.  One of my favorite parts, the meandering fiddle at the end, was apparently just Fallon messing around thinking the song was over, and he was horrified to find it was kept in.

2022 Mr. krista Supplement:  [I read him his prior comments.] I guarantee I was drunk when I said that.  Not as drunk right now, but well on my way.  I really do like it.  It is sort of a marching song.  I think it’s awesome.  I like the fiddle part…[for some reason breaks into singing the Admiral Halsey part of the Wings song]…I’m guessing I like it better than John Lennon or Paul McCartney did.

Guido Merkins

You either hate Ringo’s voice or you find it charming (notice I didn’t say good, just charming.)  I fall on the charming side.  He’s not a great vocalist, but he is good at choosing material that he can handle and allow his personality, which is his strength, show through.

Ringo wrote and recorded exactly two of his own compositions with the Beatles.  Octopus’s Garden on Abbey Road and Don’t Pass Me By on the White Album.

Don’t Pass Me By, apparently, had existed in some form since 1962 with Paul mentioning it in a BBC interview in 1964, so it had been around for awhile before they recorded it officially in 1968.

All the Beatles were big fans of country music, but especially Ringo (Act Naturally and What Goes On being perhaps their most country moments of the early years).  Don’t Pass Me By is mostly a cool fiddle player going nuts around a Ringo drum beat. 

This is another example of the mono and stereo being different with the mono being faster and with a different fiddle part at the end.  Apparently the fiddle player was surprised they included that part in the outro because he thought it was terrible.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

All Together Now -- I always thought this one was a lot of fun, of course due to Paul's counting, but also because it's one of those songs that's much easier to get into when you're drunk (as has been said). It also sounds like the kind of thing that would end with the Monty Python giant foot and fart noise.

Roll Over Beethoven -- It'll never hold a candle to Berry's version, but nobody's would. Perfectly fine for a British Invasion effort. 

What Goes On -- Twang, Beatles style, part 2. George is channeling Carl Perkins like he often did. I agree that Ringo's voice was well-suited for country and he pulls it off well here. 

 

[Zegras11]

Chalk Rankings Top 10. #148T = 24.5 pts each. Sponsored by: AAABatteries' Dickmittens

1 --Krista (Mom/Hub)---60.5

2 --Krista (Mom)---57.5

3 --anarchy99---55

4 --Krista (TJ/Holly)---28

5 --Krista (Sharon)---24.5

6 --Dennis Castro---24.5

7 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---23

8 --John Maddens Lunchbox---23

9 --Encyclopedia Brown---20

10 --ManOfSteelhead---19.5

 

[Zegras11]

# of Songs to Have Appeared on The Countdown to Date

1 --Krista (Mom/Hub)---4

2 --anarchy99---3

3 --Krista (Mom)---3

4 --Krista (Sharon)---2

5 --Encyclopedia Brown---2

6 --Krista (TJ/Holly)---2

7 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---2

8 --Lardonastick---1

9 --Mac32---1

10 --DaVinci---1

11 --Krista (TJ/Slug)---1

12 --Just Win Baby---1

13 --Krista (Rob)---1

14 --OTB_Lifer---1

15 --Krista (Worth)---1

16 --jwb---1

17 --wikkidpissah---1

18 --BinkyTheDoormat---1

19 --AAABatteries---1

20 --Alex P Keaton---1

21 --ManOfSteelhead---1

22 --John Maddens Lunchbox---1

23 --Dennis Castro---1

 

[krista4]

Happy 89th Birthday to Yoko Ono

from all her adoring FBG stans 

I was considering this for "today in Beatles history," but decided to go with their meeting Muhammad Ali (1964) instead.  I posted that first picture in the earlier thread (or somewhere here) and so love it.

Happy birthday, Yoko!  She does indeed look fabulous for her age.

 

[krista4]

Don’t Pass Me By
2022 Ranking: 148T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 12
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Mom/hub) (14)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 135T/1/2

This song is awesome, and the rest of you are wrong.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Don’t Pass Me By
2022 Ranking: 148T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 12
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Mom/hub) (14)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 135T/1/2

Getz: First list to appear four times and now front runner for least Chalky list. Another Ringo!

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  119

2019 write-up:

Don't Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)

I might be the only person in the world who loves this song, and I'll admit that it took me a long while to appreciate it as well.  I dunno, maybe Ringo's mom did at the time or something.  The song lacks coherent structure, it meanders, and the lyrics aren't compelling.  For a long time I considered this song "plodding," and I guess I still do.  My love for this is 100% about the violin parts.  They are all off-kilter and almost disturbing to listen to, which makes me so intrigued that it's all I hear.  I'd love an entire album just of that violin.  It doesn't even sound like part of the song, as if the guy were wandering around playing something else entirely.  This is a song for which my enjoyment builds every time I listen.  That ####### violin. What is he doing?

Mr. krista:  [In response to plodding comment.]  "It’s great.  I love plodding.  It’s a marching song!  Who gives a ####, that’s a mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.

2022 Supplement:  Woo-hoo!  I thought that OH and I were the only people who loved this song, so I’m happy to see it make the list.  Welcome to the countdown, little song!  In 2019, I hadn’t delved much into Ringo’s solo catalog, so I didn’t realize until I did for my solo Beatles countdown that Ringo was such a HUGE country music fan.  [NOTE:  I wrote this record up in the solo countdown, but I recommend checking out Ringo’s album Beaucoups of Blues, in particular the title song, to get a feel for what happens when you put Ringo with the best session musicians in Nashville.  It’s wonderful!  Hey, why don’t I just link the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI-ep4XBf8w ]

Though this song was written by Ringo, according to the fiddle player Jack Fallon (who happened to have been the booking agent for some of the Beatles 1962 shows), both George Martin and Paul were instrumental (see what I did there?) in the arranging of the fiddle part.  Given that this song sat around for several years before they finally recorded it, it’s cool to hear that those guys were interested enough to handle the arrangement.  Well, some of them were, anyway – Paul and Ringo are the only two Beatles playing on the song.  According to Fallon, George Martin and Paul made some changes that took away from the original country feel, but everyone seemed pleased with the song in the end.  One of my favorite parts, the meandering fiddle at the end, was apparently just Fallon messing around thinking the song was over, and he was horrified to find it was kept in.

2022 Mr. krista Supplement:  [I read him his prior comments.] I guarantee I was drunk when I said that.  Not as drunk right now, but well on my way.  I really do like it.  It is sort of a marching song.  I think it’s awesome.  I like the fiddle part…[for some reason breaks into singing the Admiral Halsey part of the Wings song]…I’m guessing I like it better than John Lennon or Paul McCartney did.

Guido Merkins

You either hate Ringo’s voice or you find it charming (notice I didn’t say good, just charming.)  I fall on the charming side.  He’s not a great vocalist, but he is good at choosing material that he can handle and allow his personality, which is his strength, show through.

Ringo wrote and recorded exactly two of his own compositions with the Beatles.  Octopus’s Garden on Abbey Road and Don’t Pass Me By on the White Album.

Don’t Pass Me By, apparently, had existed in some form since 1962 with Paul mentioning it in a BBC interview in 1964, so it had been around for awhile before they recorded it officially in 1968.

All the Beatles were big fans of country music, but especially Ringo (Act Naturally and What Goes On being perhaps their most country moments of the early years).  Don’t Pass Me By is mostly a cool fiddle player going nuts around a Ringo drum beat. 

This is another example of the mono and stereo being different with the mono being faster and with a different fiddle part at the end.  Apparently the fiddle player was surprised they included that part in the outro because he thought it was terrible.

I will go 2019 krista one better and say that I'd probably put this in my top 100. It may be "the subtle racism (against drummers) of low expectations," but when I first heard this (a high school friend had the White Album on cassette), I was fascinated that Ringo could come up with something that sounded so cool (Octopus's Garden was definitely not that). Ringo's voice is particularly charming here, but my favorite aspect is whatever they did to make the piano sound that way -- it sounds like psychedelic saloon music, if that makes any sense. I never paid much attention to the violin and the controversial outro just sounds incidental to me. 

 

[krista4]

I will go 2019 krista one better and say that I'd probably put this in my top 100. It may be "the subtle racism (against drummers) of low expectations," but when I first heard this (a high school friend had the White Album on cassette), I was fascinated that Ringo could come up with something that sounded so cool (Octopus's Garden was definitely not that). Ringo's voice is particularly charming here, but my favorite aspect is whatever they did to make the piano sound that way -- it sounds like psychedelic saloon music, if that makes any sense. I never paid much attention to the violin and the controversial outro just sounds incidental to me. 

  Good point on this.  Apparently they miked it through the guitar amp and the Leslie speaker.  That Leslie speaker was responsible for lots of cool effects through several of their songs.  And it's Ringo on the "tack piano"!

 

[BobbyLayne]

I was considering this for "today in Beatles history," but decided to go with their meeting Muhammad Ali (1964) instead.  I posted that first picture in the earlier thread (or somewhere here) and so love it.

In the Anthology Revisited podcast (18 episodes, 28 hours) Cassius Clay - as he was then known - does a pretty impressive freestyle rap about his upcoming fight with Sonny Liston

1:38:21

“Here I predict     
Mr Liston’s dismemberment    
I’ll hit him so hard    
he’ll wonder where November went”

 

[simey]

Don’t Pass Me By

I like this song. It reminds me of a song that would be the last song played in a bar, and it means it is time to go. People sing the song aloud as they file out while bouncing with a every step. 

 

[krista4]

Chalk Rankings Top 10. #148T = 24.5 pts each. Sponsored by: AAABatteries' **** mittens

 

 

[Murph]

Big fan of Don't Pass Me By. Possibly influenced by the initial Krista write up. Possibly not... because I didn't read any of them.

 

[MAC_32]

This song is awesome, and the rest of you are wrong.

Agreed, one of my last cuts. 

 

[krista4]

I like this song. It reminds me of a song that would be the last song played in a bar, and it means it is time to go. People sing the song aloud as they file out while bouncing with a every step. 

I will go 2019 krista one better and say that I'd probably put this in my top 100. It may be "the subtle racism (against drummers) of low expectations," but when I first heard this (a high school friend had the White Album on cassette), I was fascinated that Ringo could come up with something that sounded so cool (Octopus's Garden was definitely not that). Ringo's voice is particularly charming here, but my favorite aspect is whatever they did to make the piano sound that way -- it sounds like psychedelic saloon music, if that makes any sense. I never paid much attention to the violin and the controversial outro just sounds incidental to me. 

Big fan of Don't Pass Me By. Possibly influenced by the initial Krista write up. Possibly not... because I didn't read any of them.

Agreed, one of my last cuts. 

OK, you four are a'ight.  

 

[shuke]

Don’t Pass Me By

Wow I haven't heard this forever and hadn't even remembered it for consideration.

 

[ekbeats]

Hey, I just want to say that I am getting so much enjoyment out of this thread.  I don't know a tenth as much as @krista4 or @Getzlaf15 about he Beatles, but what I do know is that these guys have had a HUGE impact on my life.

I'm interested to hear from people who were born around 1968.  What is the context of your experience with the Beatles?  Did you have older brothers or sisters?  When did you really start being impacted by the Beatles?

For me, I had older sisters who are about 10 years older than me.  So as a kid in the early 70's I idolized my older sisters.  I used tot sit in their room and listen to all their Beatles albums.  Over and over and over.  These ####### guys rally got into my head.  I was a lonely kid.  Always been lonely to be honest.  The Beatles seems to speak to me - directly.  Eleanor Rigby.  All the Lonely People.  The Fool on the Hill.  Even Yellow Submarine.  I remember so distinctly feeling like these guys were speaking to me directly.  Such vivid memories.

 

[ProstheticRGK]

I was considering this for "today in Beatles history," but decided to go with their meeting Muhammad Ali (1964) instead.  I posted that first picture in the earlier thread (or somewhere here) and so love it.

Happy birthday, Yoko!  She does indeed look fabulous for her age.

Apparently, it’s an Ali kinda day. I just told my son about the fight he had with Ernie Tyrell- the famous “What’s my name?” fight where he dominated Tyrell for 15 rounds after Ernie refused to call him Muhammad Ali. Then we watched the youtube of the fight.

Not Bealtes related but Ernie should have ‘Run for his life’ (which would’ve made my top 25 if y’all hadn’t ruined it for me by pointing out how creepy the lyrics are)

 

[krista4]

Hey, I just want to say that I am getting so much enjoyment out of this thread.  I don't know a tenth as much as @krista4 or @Getzlaf15 about he Beatles, but what I do know is that these guys have had a HUGE impact on my life.

I'm interested to hear from people who were born around 1968.  What is the context of your experience with the Beatles?  Did you have older brothers or sisters?  When did you really start being impacted by the Beatles?

For me, I had older sisters who are about 10 years older than me.  So as a kid in the early 70's I idolized my older sisters.  I used tot sit in their room and listen to all their Beatles albums.  Over and over and over.  These ####### guys rally got into my head.  I was a lonely kid.  Always been lonely to be honest.  The Beatles seems to speak to me - directly.  Eleanor Rigby.  All the Lonely People.  The Fool on the Hill.  Even Yellow Submarine.  I remember so distinctly feeling like these guys were speaking to me directly.  Such vivid memories.

I love this post!  Great idea for a discussion.  You and I are the same age.  I posted this as part of the introduction to my thread three years ago:

"I am a Beatles late adopter.  They were before my time, and I spent my formative musical years shunning them almost entirely, with the belief that the only Beatles song I liked was I Want to Hold Your Hand (hi rockaction!).  There wasn’t a lightning-bolt moment where I changed my mind, but beginning ~20 years ago I started listening to them more and more, influenced in great part by the fact that most of my friends at the time were Chicago musicians who were Beatles obsessives."

After that, I just became a bit more obsessive little by little.  Started with the "usual suspects" of the well-known hits but then expanded to the albums.  My "music" friends (whether or not musicians) were instrumental in introducing me to their favorites, and we still talk about these all the time.  Three of them submitted lists for this countdown.  And then, of course, I came here and got involved in music drafts and found all these people whose breadth of knowledge and experience was so incredible.

Last year I did a countdown of my favorites of the Beatles' post-Beatles output, which I found even more rewarding as it allowed me to dig into their lives and experiences even more than I had.  Seeing their evolution as humans and musicians was even more fascinating than what they'd done as a group (even if their group songs are still my favorites). 

This thread has continued to expand my knowledge and appreciation, not just from experts like Guido but "hearing" the songs through the ears of other people in the thread.  In the first thread three years ago, we also got some amazing performances from Shaft's daughter, Nipsey, and fatguy to enjoy, too, which gave me new ways of looking at songs.  I feel like it's something that I could continue to learn more about the rest of my life! 

 

[ekbeats]

Listening to Apple Music on the Beatles as we speak.  Good God John Lennon was such a marvelous person.  His goodness just comes shining through.  That's what I've learned from the Beatles the past year, especially with the "Get Back" documentary.  These were good guys, in every sense of the word.  Such a tragedy that John was murdered.  To this day it makes sense whatsoever, and it has always troubled me.

 

[krista4]

Apparently, it’s an Ali kinda day. I just told my son about the fight he had with Ernie Tyrell- the famous “What’s my name?” fight where he dominated Tyrell for 15 rounds after Ernie refused to call him Muhammad Ali. Then we watched the youtube of the fight.

Not Bealtes related but Ernie should have ‘Run for his life’ (which would’ve made my top 25 if y’all hadn’t ruined it for me by pointing out how creepy the lyrics are)

Very cool!  Ali is one of my heroes, which is sorta required since I grew up in a suburb of his town, Louisville.

 

[ekbeats]

I love this post!  Great idea for a discussion.  You and I are the same age.  I posted this as part of the introduction to my thread three years ago:

"I am a Beatles late adopter.  They were before my time, and I spent my formative musical years shunning them almost entirely, with the belief that the only Beatles song I liked was I Want to Hold Your Hand (hi rockaction!).  There wasn’t a lightning-bolt moment where I changed my mind, but beginning ~20 years ago I started listening to them more and more, influenced in great part by the fact that most of my friends at the time were Chicago musicians who were Beatles obsessives."

After that, I just became a bit more obsessive little by little.  Started with the "usual suspects" of the well-known hits but then expanded to the albums.  My "music" friends (whether or not musicians) were instrumental in introducing me to their favorites, and we still talk about these all the time.  Three of them submitted lists for this countdown.  And then, of course, I came here and got involved in music drafts and found all these people whose breadth of knowledge and experience was so incredible.

Last year I did a countdown of my favorites of the Beatles' post-Beatles output, which I found even more rewarding as it allowed me to dig into their lives and experiences even more than I had.  Seeing their evolution as humans and musicians was even more fascinating than what they'd done as a group (even if their group songs are still my favorites). 

This thread has continued to expand my knowledge and appreciation, not just from experts like Guido but "hearing" the songs through the ears of other people in the thread.  In the first thread three years ago, we also got some amazing performances from Shaft's daughter, Nipsey, and fatguy to enjoy, too, which gave me new ways of looking at songs.  I feel like it's something that I could continue to learn more about the rest of my life! 

@krista4 I'd love to hear about you experience with the Beatles.  I've always identified so much with you.  I have a feeling there are some commonalities between us.  If it's a little too personal I understand.  Maybe it lends itself better to a pm.  

 

[krista4]

Listening to Apple Music on the Beatles as we speak.  Good God John Lennon was such a marvelous person.  His goodness just comes shining through.  That's what I've learned from the Beatles the past year, especially with the "Get Back" documentary.  These were good guys, in every sense of the word.  Such a tragedy that John was murdered.  To this day it makes sense whatsoever, and it has always troubled me.

One thing I've always read but hadn't "seen" so much was just how funny John was.  Everyone, whether they liked him or not, talked about how he was just hilarious.  That really came out in "Get Back," I thought.  

John had a lot of demons but tried like hell to work through them.  I think the five years he took off music from 1975-1980 put him the best place he'd ever been in his life.  Which makes it even more tragic that he was gunned down right as he'd gotten there.  Senseless in every way.

 

[ekbeats]

One thing I've always read but hadn't "seen" so much was just how funny John was.  Everyone, whether they liked him or not, talked about how he was just hilarious.  That really came out in "Get Back," I thought.  

John had a lot of demons but tried like hell to work through them.  I think the five years he took off music from 1975-1980 put him the best place he'd ever been in his life.  Which makes it even more tragic that he was gunned down right as he'd gotten there.  Senseless in every way.

What struck me was how decent a person he was during the "Get Back" documentary vis-a-vis George Harrison.  He genuinely cared about the guy.  And he solved the problem by talking to him and understanding his point of view.  And he did it in a non-ostentatious  way.  Such a good, genuine person, at soul level.  I'm so glad I saw that documentary.

 

[krista4]

@krista4 I'd love to hear about you experience with the Beatles.  I've always identified so much with you.  I have a feeling there are some commonalities between us.  If it's a little too personal I understand.  Maybe it lends itself better to a pm.  

I'm pretty much an open book here, except that now my Mom is reading the thread so I can't talk so much about how she locked me in a closet.

Kidding!

 

[ekbeats]

One thing I've always read but hadn't "seen" so much was just how funny John was.  Everyone, whether they liked him or not, talked about how he was just hilarious.  That really came out in "Get Back," I thought.  

John had a lot of demons but tried like hell to work through them.  I think the five years he took off music from 1975-1980 put him the best place he'd ever been in his life.  Which makes it even more tragic that he was gunned down right as he'd gotten there.  Senseless in every way.

I love this post.  I love the highlighted.  As someone who has struggled with demons I so appreciate that John also struggled with them.  Makes him more human, more accessible.  Paul was amazing, in many ways a God, but I always got the feeling that things came easy to him.  I identify more with the guy who struggled, and that was John.  What was so beautiful about John was that no matter how much he struggled, he never seemed to lose hope.  I often wonder if he had lived a longer life, would he have he retained that innocence.  I'm glad we never had to see him lose hope.

 

[ekbeats]

"Nothing's gonna change my world.  

Nothing's gonna change my world."

 

[krista4]

 I'm glad we never had to see him lose hope.

Love this sentiment.  I do think he had some core optimism that was masked with all his cynicism.  Might have actually thought he could change the world.  Might have actually done it.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Apparently, it’s an Ali kinda day. I just told my son about the fight he had with Ernie Tyrell- the famous “What’s my name?” fight where he dominated Tyrell for 15 rounds after Ernie refused to call him Muhammad Ali. Then we watched the youtube of the fight.

Not Bealtes related but Ernie should have ‘Run for his life’ (which would’ve made my top 25 if y’all hadn’t ruined it for me by pointing out how creepy the lyrics are)

For some reason I thought that was Floyd Patterson. I know Patterson refused to call him Ali, too, and Ali just humiliated him in the ring.

 

[Zegras11]

Hey, I just want to say that I am getting so much enjoyment out of this thread.  I don't know a tenth as much as @krista4 or @Getzlaf15 about he Beatles, but what I do know is that these guys have had a HUGE impact on my life.

I'm interested to hear from people who were born around 1968.  What is the context of your experience with the Beatles?  Did you have older brothers or sisters?  When did you really start being impacted by the Beatles?

For me, I had older sisters who are about 10 years older than me.  So as a kid in the early 70's I idolized my older sisters.  I used tot sit in their room and listen to all their Beatles albums.  Over and over and over.  These ####### guys rally got into my head.  I was a lonely kid.  Always been lonely to be honest.  The Beatles seems to speak to me - directly.  Eleanor Rigby.  All the Lonely People.  The Fool on the Hill.  Even Yellow Submarine.  I remember so distinctly feeling like these guys were speaking to me directly.  Such vivid memories.

This is a great post!

I seriously do not know 1/100th of what @krista4 and @Guido Merkins know about the Beatles. I'm just stunned and in awe of their write ups and the conversations they have with many here. I'm just the numbers guy LOL.


I've told this story before....  I got into the Beatles in major way in 2001, when I was 41. Thanks to my daughter who was 11 at the time and a huge Beatles fan. I bought every CD for a 45-day trip around the country. And listened to them repeatedly every day that trip. Such good times as we went to around 15 MLB stadiums and all the tourist stuff in between them.  In 2011, daughter fired up "In My Life" for our dance at her wedding.  That was awesome.  Top 5 moment for me.

 

[krista4]

I love this post.  I love the highlighted.  As someone who has struggled with demons I so appreciate that John also struggled with them.  Makes him more human, more accessible.  Paul was amazing, in many ways a God, but I always got the feeling that things came easy to him.  I identify more with the guy who struggled, and that was John. 

By the way, I should have also said I’m sorry about the struggles you’ve had.  You seem like a terrific person, so you’ve clearly used those experiences to make something positive.  Very glad you’re in the thread and bringing your perspective!

 

[ekbeats]

Love this sentiment.  I do think he had some core optimism that was masked with all his cynicism.  Might have actually thought he could change the world.  Might have actually done it.

Oh he certainly did change the world.  In some respects I think he changed the world more than he would have if he hadn’t have been murdered. I can say with 100% conviction that he had a huge influence on my life.

 

[ekbeats]

By the way, I should have also said I’m sorry about the struggles you’ve had.  You seem like a terrific person, so you’ve clearly used those experiences to make something positive.  Very glad you’re in the thread and bringing your perspective!

Thank you.  I really do appreciate you writing that @krista4.   In my 20 years in these forums no one has ever said anything so kind.  Means a lot.  

 

[Zegras11]

Oh he certainly did change the world.  In some respects I think he changed the world more than he would have if he hadn’t have been murdered. I can say with 100% conviction that he had a huge influence on my life.

I just finished the Anthology posted the other night in three nights. Thought it was cool how the three of them talked about their relationships over the years at the end.

Find it really amazing they were able to handle everything the way they did.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Hey, I just want to say that I am getting so much enjoyment out of this thread.  I don't know a tenth as much as @krista4 or @Getzlaf15 about he Beatles, but what I do know is that these guys have had a HUGE impact on my life.

I'm interested to hear from people who were born around 1968.  What is the context of your experience with the Beatles?  Did you have older brothers or sisters?  When did you really start being impacted by the Beatles?

For me, I had older sisters who are about 10 years older than me.  So as a kid in the early 70's I idolized my older sisters.  I used tot sit in their room and listen to all their Beatles albums.  Over and over and over.  These ####### guys rally got into my head.  I was a lonely kid.  Always been lonely to be honest.  The Beatles seems to speak to me - directly.  Eleanor Rigby.  All the Lonely People.  The Fool on the Hill.  Even Yellow Submarine.  I remember so distinctly feeling like these guys were speaking to me directly.  Such vivid memories.

'62 here.

I didn't have older siblings. My first exposure to music outside of the radio was my mom's LP collection - Ray Charles, Elvis, Bobby Darin, John Cash, Fats Domino, Julie London, Johnny Mathis - mostly '50s stuff. I didn't realize it then, but the '60s threw her for a loop. Several years ago, she & I were talking about music and she told me that stuff like Dylan, the Stones, and the Beatles scared her (Hendrix & the rest of the Woodstock bunch were completely alien to her). So, no Beatles influence from my mother. And it wasn't like she was "too old" - she got knocked up with me when she was 17 and was only 20 when they played the Ed Sullivan Show. Just wasn't her thing.

My mother's half-sister, though, split the difference age-wise almost exactly between my mother & I. If you looked up "hippie chick" on a 1969 version of google images, her picture would come up.  When I'd go to my grandmother's house, I'd invariably end up in my aunt's room listening to her albums. This was in the late '60s. Among her Dead, Airplane, Hendrix, Chambers Brothers, Rare Earth, the mighty Grand Funk Railroad LPs she had some Beatles' records. Memory is hazy, but I'm pretty sure it was Sgt Pepper, the White Album, Let It Be, and Abbey Rd. Being a little kid, I didn't have any real concept of "artists" or "bands" or "legacy" or "influence". I just took each song as it came, either liked it or didn't, and moved on (except for Grand Funk - who transcend human comprehension). To my mind then, there was no difference between "White Room", "Little Green Apples, "Love Is Blue", and "Glass Onion" - they were just songs, man.

But there was also radio. And even though I didn't really understand how all of it worked as oeuvre, I knew a ton of Beatles songs because they were always there. So were the Supremes, Elvis, Stevie Wonder, and Neil Diamond. Those records were embedded in me. So were the Archies. 

I got the Red and Blue Albums when I was a teenager. That's when I really started thinking about the Beatles as a whole, remarkable entity. But, because I was that age and living in the now, they weren't front-and-center to me (partly because they weren't making records anymore). 

Two things happened that really made me understand the Beatles' greatness and impact: 

1. I had a friend who was way more sophisticated about music and how it all fit together than I. He & I would sit for hours listening to his incredible record collection and talk about music - how one thing led to another and how this act was influenced by that act. He genuflected at the altar of the Beatles while I was saying #### like "I think BTO is just as good"

2. There was a rise in books and essays that were easily obtainable that discussed rock and roll. Charlie Gillette's Sounds Of The City was the first (though I didn't discover it until many years later), but the behemoth in the ring was Rolling Stone's Illustrated History Of Rock & Roll. That damned book hit every music-nerd nerve-ending in me at the time I first read it. It put things in an order I could understand and, of course, set the template for orthodox, Boomer-dominated music history for decades (we're still reckoning with the damage of what Wenner did there).

Anyway, between that book and my friend, it finally started to penetrate my pea brain on just how good and important the Beatles were.

When the albums finally got streamlined in the '80s, I bought 'em all in the space of two weeks (my wife wasn't happy about the expenditure). It probably wasn't until then that I really understood what they had done, listening from "I Saw Her Standing There" to "The End" without pause (I had some chemical help). 

Stevie Wonder is my favorite artist (& I think the greatest musical artist of the 20th century). If it's not him, it's these guys. 

 

[ekbeats]

'62 here.

I didn't have older siblings. My first exposure to music outside of the radio was my mom's LP collection - Ray Charles, Elvis, Bobby Darin, John Cash, Fats Domino, Julie London, Johnny Mathis - mostly '50s stuff. I didn't realize it then, but the '60s threw her for a loop. Several years ago, she & I were talking about music and she told me that stuff like Dylan, the Stones, and the Beatles scared her (Hendrix & the rest of the Woodstock bunch were completely alien to her). So, no Beatles influence from my mother. And it wasn't like she was "too old" - she got knocked up with me when she was 17 and was only 20 when they played the Ed Sullivan Show. Just wasn't her thing.

My mother's half-sister, though, split the difference age-wise almost exactly between my mother & I. If you looked up "hippie chick" on a 1969 version of google images, her picture would come up.  When I'd go to my grandmother's house, I'd invariably end up in my aunt's room listening to her albums. This was in the late '60s. Among her Dead, Airplane, Hendrix, Chambers Brothers, Rare Earth, the mighty Grand Funk Railroad LPs she had some Beatles' records. Memory is hazy, but I'm pretty sure it was Sgt Pepper, the White Album, Let It Be, and Abbey Rd. Being a little kid, I didn't have any real concept of "artists" or "bands" or "legacy" or "influence". I just took each song as it came, either liked it or didn't, and moved on (except for Grand Funk - who transcend human comprehension). To my mind then, there was no difference between "White Room", "Little Green Apples, "Love Is Blue", and "Glass Onion" - they were just songs, man.

But there was also radio. And even though I didn't really understand how all of it worked as oeuvre, I knew a ton of Beatles songs because they were always there. So were the Supremes, Elvis, Stevie Wonder, and Neil Diamond. Those records were embedded in me. So were the Archies. 

I got the Red and Blue Albums when I was a teenager. That's when I really started thinking about the Beatles as a whole, remarkable entity. But, because I was that age and living in the now, they weren't front-and-center to me (partly because they weren't making records anymore). 

Two things happened that really made me understand the Beatles' greatness and impact: 

1. I had a friend who was way more sophisticated about music and how it all fit together than I. He & I would sit for hours listening to his incredible record collection and talk about music - how one thing led to another and how this act was influenced by that act. He genuflected at the altar of the Beatles while I was saying #### like "I think BTO is just as good"

2. There was a rise in books and essays that were easily obtainable that discussed rock and roll. Charlie Gillette's Sounds Of The City was the first (though I didn't discover it until many years later), but the behemoth in the ring was Rolling Stone's Illustrated History Of Rock & Roll. That damned book hit every music-nerd nerve-ending in me at the time I first read it. It put things in an order I could understand and, of course, set the template for orthodox, Boomer-dominated music history for decades (we're still reckoning with the damage of what Wenner did there).

Anyway, between that book and my friend, it finally started to penetrate my pea brain on just how good and important the Beatles were.

When the albums finally got streamlined in the '80s, I bought 'em all in the space of two weeks (my wife wasn't happy about the expenditure). It probably wasn't until then that I really understood what they had done, listening from "I Saw Her Standing There" to "The End" without pause (I had some chemical help). 

Stevie Wonder is my favorite artist (& I think the greatest musical artist of the 20th century). If it's not him, it's these guys. 

So interesting. Thanks @Uruk-Hai.  I love hearing stories like this.  

 

[AAABatteries]

I got to sponsor two chalk lists!  Suck it haters!

 

[ProstheticRGK]

I got to sponsor two chalk lists!  Suck it haters!

Your pledge name is… “Mittens”

 

[AAABatteries]

Your pledge name is… “Mittens”

Thank you Jugdish.

 

[heckmanm]

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.

I feel bad for anybody who cranked up the volume to hear the first 30 seconds or so.  Fortunately, I was trying to think up a snarky comment about the mics being in a different room when it kicked in so my ears were spared.

 

[Tom Hagen]

Hey, I just want to say that I am getting so much enjoyment out of this thread.  I don't know a tenth as much as @krista4 or @Getzlaf15 about he Beatles, but what I do know is that these guys have had a HUGE impact on my life.

I'm interested to hear from people who were born around 1968.  What is the context of your experience with the Beatles?  Did you have older brothers or sisters?  When did you really start being impacted by the Beatles?

For me, I had older sisters who are about 10 years older than me.  So as a kid in the early 70's I idolized my older sisters.  I used tot sit in their room and listen to all their Beatles albums.  Over and over and over.  These ####### guys rally got into my head.  I was a lonely kid.  Always been lonely to be honest.  The Beatles seems to speak to me - directly.  Eleanor Rigby.  All the Lonely People.  The Fool on the Hill.  Even Yellow Submarine.  I remember so distinctly feeling like these guys were speaking to me directly.  Such vivid memories.

This is a great idea for discussion. I was born in 1972, so I didn't listen to them at all as a kid.  I vaguely remember my dad listening to I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There but he wasn't exactly into Lucy in the Sky and Revolution 9.  For some reason, I bought the 1 Compilation CD when it came out and was hooked.  I was certainly familiar with most of the songs on it but to hear them one after another made me realize how prolific they were and how much they evolved from Love Me Do to Let It Be.

I went back and listened to all of the albums and really developed an appreciation but still have nowhere near the depth of knowledge that most of you have.  I appreciate lyrics and melody but know nothing about playing music. I didn't understand half of the stuff Krista talked about in the original thread but learned a lot reading the write ups ( ) and going back to really listen to each song in a more educated way.  Having said that, while I have a better appreciation of the technical accomplishments my list is almost entirely songs where either the lyrics and/or melody just connect with me.     

 

[Zegras11]

Old Brown Shoe
2022 Ranking: 147
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 12
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Mom) (21) @Murph (22) @Anarchy99 (23)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 135T/1/2

Getz comments:  K - Mom and Ararchy99 each with their fourth song and the battle for most (now), least (in the end) chalk rages on.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  131

2019 write-up:  

Old Brown Shoe (single, 1969)

The b-side to "The Ballad of John and Yoko."  I quite like the song, but it sounds like it was recorded in George's bathtub.  I think I like the George vocal here, if I could hear it.  Somebody pull George out from the men's room!

Mr. krista:  "There’s something evocative about the image of a glass onion, or red wheelbarrow, but old brown shoe?  I don’t care anymore about old brown shoe.  I’m bored just saying the words 'old brown shoe.'  It was like a really fast polka."

Suggested cover:  Gary Brooker - good cover but really missing that "I'm recording while simultaneously scuba diving" vibe.

2022 Supplement:  Still love the song; still wish it didn’t sound underwater.  Here’s an early version where George is teaching the lyrics to the others, and it doesn’t have that horrible sound quality:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nKi8iBg8KI

I dismissed this song without giving much information in my 2019 post.  One thing interesting about this one is who’s playing what:  Paul took over the drums (no, Ringo hadn’t quit the band again but instead was off filming a movie), while George played organ in addition to lead guitar, and John took his turn at the piano.  George claimed that he also played the bass part, but it’s unclear if that was truly the case.

Guido Merkins

Near the end of the Beatles, George Harrison was coming into his own.   One of my favorite scenes in the recent Get Back film was George coming into the studio with this new song that he had worked out on piano, which George seemed to write a lot of songs on piano around this time, even though he’s not really a piano player.  This song was Old Brown Shoe

Old Brown Shoe kind of reminds me of a better version of Hello Goodbye lyrics wise (I want a love that’s right, right is only half of what’s wrong.)  This was the old duality thing (right wrong, left right, etc.)  Old Brown Shoe features Paul on drums, George on organ and lead guitar and John on piano.  Ringo was filming The Magic Christian, so he was unavailable.

I love the line “when I grow up I’ll be a singer, wear rings on every finger”, which is obviously a reference to Ringo.  Also him talking about “escping from this zoo”, which is an obvious reference to life in the Beatles.  I also love the feel of the track, which feels slightly like ska to me.  And that guitar solo by George, which is one of his best.  And the main riff, which to hints at the use of a slide, but I don’t think he was actually using a slide for the recording.  George also claimed that he played bass on the recording.  Not sure how true that is, but George claimed it.    

Old Brown Shoe was the B side of the single The Ballad of John and Yoko, which was George’s 2nd B side after The Inner Light

 

[Zegras11]

Only ten songs left that received only one vote.