Godsbrother
Footballguy
The individual CDs sold by Amazon and retail stores are the British versions. The first 8 American versions are only available in two boxed sets.
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The Beatles (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter saintsfan
- Start date
saintsfan
Footballguy
On 09-09-09, they remastered British catalogue is going to be released. Less than a week from now!!!!!Thanks for the love. The Beatles have been a passion of mine for almost 30 years now. Nothing makes me happier than sharing their story. Going to the Dome tonight to see Breesus. Go Saints!!!!!
saintsfan
Footballguy
OK guys. 4 more articles from me. Two today and two tomorrow, then I'll open up the floor to anybody else who wants to do something. I'm sure Godsbrother probably has a bunch of stuff that I left out. I would like to keep this thread going through 09-09-09 and even after. I plan on coming back in here and reporting on the remasters once I have them and listen to them.
Anyway, here's the next one
The tumultuous sessions for Get Back
OK, so most people might not know it, but the Beatles have an unreleased album in their catalogue. That's right. The album was supposed to be called Get Back and it was an attempt by the Beatles to "get back" to their roots. In other words, having proven themselves adept at multi track recording, they now wanted to break it all down an go back to their earlier days and a simpler recording process. They even had a picture taken of them in the exact same pose and in the exact same place as their first album cover, Please Please Me. Those wanting to see that picture just have to look at the cover of The Beatles 1967-1970 Greatest Hits album (the blue one) to see it.
To that end, they wanted to film the sessions showing the album being made and the grand finale would be a live show of the material that they had worked on and release it as a full length feature film. They wanted the album to be "honest", in other words, no overdubs and no studio tricks.
So, that was the idea. So what happened?? First, tensions within the group were at an all time high. The Beatles had started a company together after Brian died called Apple and it was bleeding money. The Beatles, really having no idea about business, tried to hire a manager. John, George, and Ringo wanted a fellow called Allan Klein, a lawyer from New York who represented the Rolling Stones and Paul wanted his father in law, Lee Eastman. The others thought Eastman would be biased in Paul's favor. Paul didn't trust Allan Klein (BTW, Paul was right. Klein was a sleezebag). So, anyway, that caused tension. Second, as Godsbrother pointed out above, once John met Yoko, he really wasn't interested in the Beatles anymore. The others didn't like Yoko's interference in the studio, which had always been the Beatles sanctuary. Third, George Harrison, perhaps the biggest casualty in the Lennon/McCartney empire, was quickly growing as an artist and tired of his two cuts per album. A funny story I read during the Get Back sessions was someone sitting around with George while the others weren't around. George played him Something, which George was still working on. The guy sitting next to George said, basically, that it was a GREAT song and George said "do you thing so?" Such was George's lot in life. He was starting to write songs that could rival Lennon and McCartney but he had no confidence that the material would be taken seriously. George had lots of songs around this time and we would finally see his own talent come to the forefront on Abbey Road and All Things Must Pass. For now, though, George was going through the motions and not interested in Get Back. Last, the way in which the Beatles wanted George Martin to produce the album was difficult. Basically, with no overdubs, you couldn't mix and match takes to get the best parts of different takes to make a whole. It's true that the first album was recorded, in many ways, like this, but these Beatles were different from those Beatles in that they were no longer interested in giving their best performance and most of the songs on the first album, they had been playing for years. With these new songs, they had to work through the song and every time they changed their mind about something, they had to, in effect, start over on the song because they couldn't take the best parts of the prior takes and use them.
Just to give you an idea of the atmosphere in the sessions, there is a great scene on the finished movie of George and Paul fighting with George saying something to the effect of "I'll play anything you want me to play or I won't play at all, if that makes you happy." George Martin got fed up and washed his hands of the entire thing. Nobody wanted to plow through the miles of tape they had accumulated to make a finished album. Several Get Back albums were created by Glyn Johns who was finally given the task of trying to create something out of it, but they couldn't agree on them. John wanted to release it the way it was to show everybody what a mess they were.
Finally, the brought in Phil Spector to put together a coherent album. Thus was born the most controversial Beatles album of all. Let It Be came out in place of Get Back. Although the sessions for Let It Be took place before Abbey Road, it was released after. As Phil tends to do, he thought some of the Beatles songs were too spare, so he added strings and choirs and tried to basically create a Wall of Sound Beatles album. This was mostly centered around three tracks. Let It Be, Across The Universe and The Long and Winding Road. Paul, in particular, hated what he did to The Long and Winding Road. John thought Phil had did a solid job transforming the tapes into something coherent and listenable. Let It Be has so many great songs on it, it's hard to call it a weak album. Most other artists would have killed for that album. By Beatles standards, though, it is weak. The best part of the album, IMO, are the tracks that they recorded basically on the roof of the Apple building. These had an energy that was missing from the rest of the sessions. The One After 909, a Quarrymen era track, put a smile of my face. The lyrics are pretty bad, but they sound like they are having a ball playing it. This rooftop performance was captured for the Let It Be film that was eventually released and was the inspiration for U2 doing it for Where The Streets Have No Name.
Anyway, George Martin thought that would be the end of the Beatles and he would never work with them again. One more time, the Beatles had other ideas and it would result in another Beatles masterpiece.
Next...The legendary Abbey Road
Anyway, here's the next one
The tumultuous sessions for Get Back
OK, so most people might not know it, but the Beatles have an unreleased album in their catalogue. That's right. The album was supposed to be called Get Back and it was an attempt by the Beatles to "get back" to their roots. In other words, having proven themselves adept at multi track recording, they now wanted to break it all down an go back to their earlier days and a simpler recording process. They even had a picture taken of them in the exact same pose and in the exact same place as their first album cover, Please Please Me. Those wanting to see that picture just have to look at the cover of The Beatles 1967-1970 Greatest Hits album (the blue one) to see it.
To that end, they wanted to film the sessions showing the album being made and the grand finale would be a live show of the material that they had worked on and release it as a full length feature film. They wanted the album to be "honest", in other words, no overdubs and no studio tricks.
So, that was the idea. So what happened?? First, tensions within the group were at an all time high. The Beatles had started a company together after Brian died called Apple and it was bleeding money. The Beatles, really having no idea about business, tried to hire a manager. John, George, and Ringo wanted a fellow called Allan Klein, a lawyer from New York who represented the Rolling Stones and Paul wanted his father in law, Lee Eastman. The others thought Eastman would be biased in Paul's favor. Paul didn't trust Allan Klein (BTW, Paul was right. Klein was a sleezebag). So, anyway, that caused tension. Second, as Godsbrother pointed out above, once John met Yoko, he really wasn't interested in the Beatles anymore. The others didn't like Yoko's interference in the studio, which had always been the Beatles sanctuary. Third, George Harrison, perhaps the biggest casualty in the Lennon/McCartney empire, was quickly growing as an artist and tired of his two cuts per album. A funny story I read during the Get Back sessions was someone sitting around with George while the others weren't around. George played him Something, which George was still working on. The guy sitting next to George said, basically, that it was a GREAT song and George said "do you thing so?" Such was George's lot in life. He was starting to write songs that could rival Lennon and McCartney but he had no confidence that the material would be taken seriously. George had lots of songs around this time and we would finally see his own talent come to the forefront on Abbey Road and All Things Must Pass. For now, though, George was going through the motions and not interested in Get Back. Last, the way in which the Beatles wanted George Martin to produce the album was difficult. Basically, with no overdubs, you couldn't mix and match takes to get the best parts of different takes to make a whole. It's true that the first album was recorded, in many ways, like this, but these Beatles were different from those Beatles in that they were no longer interested in giving their best performance and most of the songs on the first album, they had been playing for years. With these new songs, they had to work through the song and every time they changed their mind about something, they had to, in effect, start over on the song because they couldn't take the best parts of the prior takes and use them.
Just to give you an idea of the atmosphere in the sessions, there is a great scene on the finished movie of George and Paul fighting with George saying something to the effect of "I'll play anything you want me to play or I won't play at all, if that makes you happy." George Martin got fed up and washed his hands of the entire thing. Nobody wanted to plow through the miles of tape they had accumulated to make a finished album. Several Get Back albums were created by Glyn Johns who was finally given the task of trying to create something out of it, but they couldn't agree on them. John wanted to release it the way it was to show everybody what a mess they were.
Finally, the brought in Phil Spector to put together a coherent album. Thus was born the most controversial Beatles album of all. Let It Be came out in place of Get Back. Although the sessions for Let It Be took place before Abbey Road, it was released after. As Phil tends to do, he thought some of the Beatles songs were too spare, so he added strings and choirs and tried to basically create a Wall of Sound Beatles album. This was mostly centered around three tracks. Let It Be, Across The Universe and The Long and Winding Road. Paul, in particular, hated what he did to The Long and Winding Road. John thought Phil had did a solid job transforming the tapes into something coherent and listenable. Let It Be has so many great songs on it, it's hard to call it a weak album. Most other artists would have killed for that album. By Beatles standards, though, it is weak. The best part of the album, IMO, are the tracks that they recorded basically on the roof of the Apple building. These had an energy that was missing from the rest of the sessions. The One After 909, a Quarrymen era track, put a smile of my face. The lyrics are pretty bad, but they sound like they are having a ball playing it. This rooftop performance was captured for the Let It Be film that was eventually released and was the inspiration for U2 doing it for Where The Streets Have No Name.
Anyway, George Martin thought that would be the end of the Beatles and he would never work with them again. One more time, the Beatles had other ideas and it would result in another Beatles masterpiece.
Next...The legendary Abbey Road
Godsbrother
Footballguy
Get Back, like most of the later Beatles projects, was a Paul idea. More than any other Beatle Paul missed touring and wanted to get back to the feel of being in a real band. A few months after the recording of the White Album the group conveined to decide on what the next project would be. Paul proposed touring small clubs and recording a live album of new material but John and George adamantly opposed the idea. John went on to suggest they just call it quits.However they were still bound by United Artists for another film (they had mistakenly hoped that Yellow Submarine would qualify but the contract specifically called for a film starring the Beatles) and UA was getting impatient. George was very vocal about not doing another Hard Day's Night or Help type film so they agreed on a film that would require the least amount of effort. The decision was to film the group rehearsing both new material and old rock & roll numbers and culminating it in a live performance, possibly in an ancient ampitheater in Greece.saintsfan said:
Unfortunately the project got off to a rocky start. For one thing the group had to perform on the filming crew's schedule and it wasn't easy for a rock group to make decent music at 8:00 in the morning. Secondly the filming took place in Twickenham Film Studios, a large wharehouse which had poor acoustics and was freezing in January. The mood got progressively worse until Harrison had finally had enough and quit the band. Surprisingly John, Paul, Ringo (and Yoko) carried on without him for two days before they convinced Harrison to come back.
One interesting thing about the infamous scene with Paul and George arguing is that Geoff Emerick said the exchange in the film was actually quite mild compared to some of the arguments he had witnessed. He went on to say that at this point George's relationship with Paul was much better than it was with John as John was continually putting George down.
Anyway the atmosphere was much improved when the Beatles decided to finish the film in Apple Studios which was much more comfortable. Another reason was that George had brought old friend Billy Preston to join in on the sessions. When filming was almost over and it came down to record the live performance the idea to fly to Greece was canned and someone suggested they just go up on the roof, sing a few songs, and be done with it.
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Uncle Humuna
Footballguy
Just interested.Where does "You Know My Name" fall on your list?
saintsfan
Footballguy
The legendary Abbey Road
As I said in the prior installment, George Martin assumed, at this point, that he would never work with the Beatles again. He was very surprised when he got a call one day from Paul asking if he would produce an album "like he used to." Martin said he would if the Beatles would be like they used to be, meaning no more petty bickering and if they would allow him to truly produce it. No restrictions like on Get Back. The Beatles agreed and they went to the studio one more time to record Abbey Road. My feeling has always been that the Beatles knew this would probably be their last work, at least for quite awhile, and wanted to go out on a higher note than Get Back.
Although tensions were less than in the past, it wasn't exactly like the old days because the Beatles didn't often appear in the studio together like in the old days. This, probably, helped to keep tensions lower. They couldn't agree on what they wanted to do, so they compromised. The first side of the album would be just a collection of songs, which is what John wanted. The second side would be kind of a medley of songs a little more put together, which is what Paul wanted.
What they didn't expect, was that George Harrison would put up his two best songs ever for inclusion on the album. For the first time, you could argue that George's two songs are the best two on the whole album. Something was called "the greatest love song of the 20th Century" by Frank Sinatra and Here Comes the Sun is just a perfect song, joyously celebrating a sunny day. John contributed Come Together and the heavy I Want You(She's So Heavy). Ringo sang Octopus's Garden which is kind of a remake of Yellow Submarine. Paul contributed Oh Darling with one of his best vocals ever and the jazzy Maxwell's Silver Hammer, which John and George hated. Then, there is the famous B side. Because kind of starts out the medley, although it's not connected to the medley, I've always thought of it as kind of prelude to the medley. Anyway, Because features some of the Beatles tightest harmonies and a harpsichord playing, roughly, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata's chords backwards to form the song. Beautiful recording. Then, there's the medley. Paul and John both contributed song fragments for it. It swells and changes tempos and keys throughout. Beatifully arranged and even orchestrated in places. Then, the grand finale, a song called Golden Slumbers, which Paul had gotten the lyrics from some old lulaby and added his own melody to it. That leads directly into Carry That Weight and into The End, which is a burst of Beatles dueling guitar solos. Those that think the Beatles can't play, listen to it. The solos are blistering. It ends with the great line "And in the end. The love you take is equal to the love you make", which is a great line. Other than the short hidden track Her Majesty, it is the last line on the last song on the last Beatles album. What a way to go out.
As far as the cover of the album, they couldn't decide what they wanted to call the album. One idea was to call it Everest, which was the brand of cigarettes smoked by engineer Geoff Emerick. After kicking that around, someone (I can't remember who, probably Paul) finally said, why don't we just walk outside, take our picture and call the album Abbey Road. Out of a decision based upon laziness and boredom, therefore, was born one of the most iconic album covers in the history of pop music, maybe only second to the Beatles own Sgt Pepper.
The sound of the album, to my ears, is unique among Beatles albums. It has a polish and a contemporary sound that none of their other albums have. Maybe it's because it's the only Beatles album recorded on an 8 track machine and maybe because it's the first Beatles album recorded for stereo and not mono. Whatever the reason, listening to it in 1969, nobody realized that Abbey Road would be the sound of the 70's. Progressive Rock in the 70's had the Abbey Road sound. The connected B side would be done over and over again in subsequent years by a wide variety of artists. Often imitated, never duplicated. Abbey Road is a classic album in every sense of the word and the fact that the Beatles could do work of such artistic significance with the acrimony within the group at the time just shows their talent and ability to focus to create something beautiful and great. It is final proof of their greatness.
Next...Why did they breakup?
As I said in the prior installment, George Martin assumed, at this point, that he would never work with the Beatles again. He was very surprised when he got a call one day from Paul asking if he would produce an album "like he used to." Martin said he would if the Beatles would be like they used to be, meaning no more petty bickering and if they would allow him to truly produce it. No restrictions like on Get Back. The Beatles agreed and they went to the studio one more time to record Abbey Road. My feeling has always been that the Beatles knew this would probably be their last work, at least for quite awhile, and wanted to go out on a higher note than Get Back.
Although tensions were less than in the past, it wasn't exactly like the old days because the Beatles didn't often appear in the studio together like in the old days. This, probably, helped to keep tensions lower. They couldn't agree on what they wanted to do, so they compromised. The first side of the album would be just a collection of songs, which is what John wanted. The second side would be kind of a medley of songs a little more put together, which is what Paul wanted.
What they didn't expect, was that George Harrison would put up his two best songs ever for inclusion on the album. For the first time, you could argue that George's two songs are the best two on the whole album. Something was called "the greatest love song of the 20th Century" by Frank Sinatra and Here Comes the Sun is just a perfect song, joyously celebrating a sunny day. John contributed Come Together and the heavy I Want You(She's So Heavy). Ringo sang Octopus's Garden which is kind of a remake of Yellow Submarine. Paul contributed Oh Darling with one of his best vocals ever and the jazzy Maxwell's Silver Hammer, which John and George hated. Then, there is the famous B side. Because kind of starts out the medley, although it's not connected to the medley, I've always thought of it as kind of prelude to the medley. Anyway, Because features some of the Beatles tightest harmonies and a harpsichord playing, roughly, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata's chords backwards to form the song. Beautiful recording. Then, there's the medley. Paul and John both contributed song fragments for it. It swells and changes tempos and keys throughout. Beatifully arranged and even orchestrated in places. Then, the grand finale, a song called Golden Slumbers, which Paul had gotten the lyrics from some old lulaby and added his own melody to it. That leads directly into Carry That Weight and into The End, which is a burst of Beatles dueling guitar solos. Those that think the Beatles can't play, listen to it. The solos are blistering. It ends with the great line "And in the end. The love you take is equal to the love you make", which is a great line. Other than the short hidden track Her Majesty, it is the last line on the last song on the last Beatles album. What a way to go out.
As far as the cover of the album, they couldn't decide what they wanted to call the album. One idea was to call it Everest, which was the brand of cigarettes smoked by engineer Geoff Emerick. After kicking that around, someone (I can't remember who, probably Paul) finally said, why don't we just walk outside, take our picture and call the album Abbey Road. Out of a decision based upon laziness and boredom, therefore, was born one of the most iconic album covers in the history of pop music, maybe only second to the Beatles own Sgt Pepper.
The sound of the album, to my ears, is unique among Beatles albums. It has a polish and a contemporary sound that none of their other albums have. Maybe it's because it's the only Beatles album recorded on an 8 track machine and maybe because it's the first Beatles album recorded for stereo and not mono. Whatever the reason, listening to it in 1969, nobody realized that Abbey Road would be the sound of the 70's. Progressive Rock in the 70's had the Abbey Road sound. The connected B side would be done over and over again in subsequent years by a wide variety of artists. Often imitated, never duplicated. Abbey Road is a classic album in every sense of the word and the fact that the Beatles could do work of such artistic significance with the acrimony within the group at the time just shows their talent and ability to focus to create something beautiful and great. It is final proof of their greatness.
Next...Why did they breakup?
Uncle Humuna
Footballguy
I knew about MMT, but not about HJ and CoBO.saintsfan said:
Where does the Red and the Blue fall into all of this (my first Beatle purchases, and LPs that I swear had magic dust sprinkled on them)
saintsfan
Footballguy
Godsbrother
Footballguy
I actually like it. It is a goof but it is pretty funny.
Godsbrother
Footballguy
That is a story in and of itself. The Beatles were one of the few groups that had not released a greatest hits package in the US. The reason being that thier studio albums had always sold so well. Well that changed when a 4-LP bootleg of Beatles songs entitled "The Beatles: Alpha Omega" was being sold via television in the mid 70s.Apple took steps to halt the commericials but it took several months and by that time the LP had sold extremely well. Even after the commercials stopped Alpha Omega could be bought in "underground" record shops and at record shows.In response Apple decided to come up with their own Greatest Hits sets. Supposedly the Beatles were consulted on the track selections and Apple used the cover of the Please Please Me LP for 62-66 and the unused cover for the Get Back LP 67-70 which featured the Beatles in the same pose. The two covers had shown just how much the Beatles had changed in 7+ years.I knew about MMT, but not about HJ and CoBO.saintsfan said:Where does the Red and the Blue fall into all of this (my first Beatle purchases, and LPs that I swear had magic dust sprinkled on them)
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
From my AP vault of info:
ABBEY ROAD 'BED-IN' WAS THE LAST STRAW FOR THE BEATLESThe men behind the controls of the final BEATLES album have spoken out about the tensions that led to the Fab Four's split, insisting a decision to wheel an injured bed-bound YOKO ONO into the studio was a terrible idea that could have marked the beginning of the end.
John Lennon's wife had been injured in a family car crash in Scotland and the Beatles star insisted she had to be with him at all times.
So a Harrods double bed was placed in the corner of the group's studio at Abbey Road and Ono watched the recording of what would be the group's final album, also called Abbey Road, as she recovered.
But engineer John Kurlander tells British music magazine Mojo it wasn't so much the bed in the studio that added to the tension in the studio, but the endless stream of visitors.
He explains, "My memory is not so much that it was curious that she was convalescing in a bed in the corner of the studio, but that she had her entourage... She had a lot of visitors
"It was on the studio floor, so if the guys were working on a song, it was distracting that she had so many people coming to see her."
Part-time tape operator Alan Parsons adds, "It was a strange atmosphere: Yoko in the bed in the studio, sending someone out to run errands and pick up food... and she and John would occasionally snuggle in there.
"I don't think there was any serious hanky-panky going on, but they would be side by side, like they would be in a hotel room... (But) it wasn't our place to comment."
Even Paul MCCartney, who agreed to be interviewed for the Mojo expose into the last months of the Beatles, has revealed the 'bed-in' was "surprising," adding, "We just had to work around her - and walk around her. It was the madness of the times: you just had to put up with it. What could you do? You couldn't say, 'Get that bed out of here.' She was John's girl".
LINK
ABBEY ROAD 'BED-IN' WAS THE LAST STRAW FOR THE BEATLESThe men behind the controls of the final BEATLES album have spoken out about the tensions that led to the Fab Four's split, insisting a decision to wheel an injured bed-bound YOKO ONO into the studio was a terrible idea that could have marked the beginning of the end.
John Lennon's wife had been injured in a family car crash in Scotland and the Beatles star insisted she had to be with him at all times.
So a Harrods double bed was placed in the corner of the group's studio at Abbey Road and Ono watched the recording of what would be the group's final album, also called Abbey Road, as she recovered.
But engineer John Kurlander tells British music magazine Mojo it wasn't so much the bed in the studio that added to the tension in the studio, but the endless stream of visitors.
He explains, "My memory is not so much that it was curious that she was convalescing in a bed in the corner of the studio, but that she had her entourage... She had a lot of visitors
"It was on the studio floor, so if the guys were working on a song, it was distracting that she had so many people coming to see her."
Part-time tape operator Alan Parsons adds, "It was a strange atmosphere: Yoko in the bed in the studio, sending someone out to run errands and pick up food... and she and John would occasionally snuggle in there.
"I don't think there was any serious hanky-panky going on, but they would be side by side, like they would be in a hotel room... (But) it wasn't our place to comment."
Even Paul MCCartney, who agreed to be interviewed for the Mojo expose into the last months of the Beatles, has revealed the 'bed-in' was "surprising," adding, "We just had to work around her - and walk around her. It was the madness of the times: you just had to put up with it. What could you do? You couldn't say, 'Get that bed out of here.' She was John's girl".
LINK
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Godsbrother
Footballguy
A couple of notes reagrding Abbey Road.First, John did not appear on several of the tracks as he had recently been in a serious auto accident with Yoko. When John did appear the other Beatles were surprised to see a bed being wheeled in. John explained that Yoko needed bed rest and since John had to record he brought the hospital bed with him.
Paul and George were understandably annoyed but kept their mouths shut to avoid an argument. That was until George brought in a bag of digestive biscuits (cookies) and had them next to his amplifier. At one point the Beatles were called up to the control room for a listen when out of the corner of his eye he spied Yoko sneaking out of her bed and watch her grab a hanful of cookies. According to Geoff Emerick, George screamed "She's stealing my biscuits!!!" to a sheepish looking John.
Another Geoff Emerick story was that John was against the Side Two medley and was not being very supportive of the recording. Sensing he was losing John, Paul told him he was stuck and asked if John could help him out. John said that he had some unfinished songs that might work and from that point was very much into the project.
The song "The End" features solos from all four Beatles and was the final song they all recorded together. It was not the last song recorded though because the final edit of the Let It Be film featured the song "I Me Mine". Since the song appeared in the film it needed to be included in the album but a suitable recording did not exist. So Paul, George and Ringo got together in January in 1970 and recorded the song. It would be the last time the three would record again for more than 25 years.
saintsfan
Footballguy
I always thought this was weird considering the scorn John seemed to have for Abbey Road later. He contributed Sun King, Polythene Pam, and Mean Mr Mustard for the medley, so he couldn't have hated the idea that much.I think John spent the remaining 10 years of his life trying to tear down every Beatles legend that existed. Sad that he didn't live long enough to come to grips with his Beatle past like the others did.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
And John's versions of a particular story would vary wildly from telling to telling, so you have to take just about anything he ever said about the Beatles post-breakup with a grain of salt.
saintsfan
Footballguy
Godsbrother
Footballguy
<_<
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
I remember that "Alpha Omega" advertising - narrator had a heavy British accent (or at least it seemed that way then) - "The Bay-ulls, Alphamega".That is a story in and of itself. The Beatles were one of the few groups that had not released a greatest hits package in the US. The reason being that thier studio albums had always sold so well. Well that changed when a 4-LP bootleg of Beatles songs entitled "The Beatles: Alpha Omega" was being sold via television in the mid 70s.Apple took steps to halt the commericials but it took several months and by that time the LP had sold extremely well. Even after the commercials stopped Alpha Omega could be bought in "underground" record shops and at record shows.I knew about MMT, but not about HJ and CoBO.saintsfan said:
Where does the Red and the Blue fall into all of this (my first Beatle purchases, and LPs that I swear had magic dust sprinkled on them)
In response Apple decided to come up with their own Greatest Hits sets. Supposedly the Beatles were consulted on the track selections and Apple used the cover of the Please Please Me LP for 62-66 and the unused cover for the Get Back LP 67-70 which featured the Beatles in the same pose. The two covers had shown just how much the Beatles had changed in 7+ years.
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Cheesy McGee
Footballguy
The latest issue of Guitar World has an article about the recording of Abbey Road and mentioned that in addition to the first use of an 8-track machine, it also marked a change in recording consoles. Gone were the tube-based boards they had used on the other records, and in there place was the latest solid state technology. This had a big effect on the sound of the album.
saintsfan
Footballguy
Glad you said that, because in addition to this, I forgot to mention that the Beatles used a Moog synthesizer on Abbey Road. The Moog was brand new, then.
saintsfan
Footballguy
Abbey Road REALLY sounds completely different from their other albums, don't you think?? It's always stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Not in a bad way, of course, just different.
Michael Fox Fan
Footballguy
Have I said before that this thread is awesome?
Suddenly those 3 songs make so much more sense. While we have a ton of Beatles albums (which I prefer to listen to) my wife often makes me listen to the red & blue greatest hits albums. Those 3 songs never really seemed to fit....of course Let It Be is still widely loved....but frankly I've pretty much hated Across The Universe and Long and Winding Road my whole life. If done by any other artists, they would be good songs. But..in this case they are disappointing. And odd. Thanks for shedding light on this.
Encyclopedia Brown
Footballguy
For years there always seemed something peculiar about "Carry That Weight", something I couldn't quite identify. Then one day it hit me: I don't hear John's voice, that's what is missing.And it was because of the car accident that you referenced.I wonder if that song is the only one ever that contained that specific combination: George, Paul and Ringo.
saintsfan
Footballguy
If you want to hear better versions of those songs, Across The Universe has an alternate version on Anthology 2 and Let It Be...Naked.The Long and Winding Road is on Anthology 3 and, also on Let It Be...Naked.The Let It Be on the blue album, is actually the single and different from the Let It Be album version. The song is difficult, because I LOVE the solo on the album version, but it's also the version that Spector puked on. I was hoping the Naked version would have the good solo, but strip out the Spector stuff, but alas, it was a different version entirely.Have I said before that this thread is awesome?Suddenly those 3 songs make so much more sense. While we have a ton of Beatles albums (which I prefer to listen to) my wife often makes me listen to the red & blue greatest hits albums. Those 3 songs never really seemed to fit....of course Let It Be is still widely loved....but frankly I've pretty much hated Across The Universe and Long and Winding Road my whole life. If done by any other artists, they would be good songs. But..in this case they are disappointing. And odd. Thanks for shedding light on this.
The bolded raises an interesting question that might deserve a thread of it's own. When Phil Spector passes on, what will his musical legacy be? Was the Wall of Sound a "good" or a "bad" thing? He's produced so many different groups, but they all have that specific and distinctive sound.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
I think Phil was very big for the time & genre he was most famous for, but after that (Beatles, Ramones etc) not very much.
saintsfan
Footballguy
Phil was a great producer with less talented artists. The thing is, Phil would take less talented artists with lesser material and add a distinctive touch which would make it sound much better than it ordinarily would.Phil's problem was getting out of the way when working with an artist that equaled or exceeded his own talent. The Beatles were one such group.
It can't be stressed enough that George Martin was the absolute perfect producer for the Beatles. George knew that he just needed to provide the proper circumstances for the Beatles talent to shine through and that's exactly what he did. Martin was an integral part of the Beatles success because of what he DIDN'T do almost as much as what he did do.
Then what do you think about guys like Rick Rubin or Quincy Jones who have each produced many different and diverse performers form Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash for Rubin, to Michael Jackson and other for Jones.
saintsfan
Footballguy
All producers are different. I think Rubin and Jones did a great job of letting that artist shine through. Phil thought of himself as the artist and when working with a talented group like the Beatles, Phil wasn't going to improve a Paul McCartney song like The Long and Winding Road, no matter how hard he tried. What would have been more appropriate in that circumstance is let the song stand on it's own.In a way, Phil was ahead of his time because producers are now more important than ever. So much so, that sometimes the producers are the artists now.
Uncle Humuna
Footballguy
I remember reading somewhere that this was the last song actually co-written by Lennon and McCartney (even thought the song-writing credits continued to list both).
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
I think that's it. But not only did he think of himself that way, he was also right. In addition, I think Phil was done (for all intents & purposes) as an artist by the late 60s. Once he sold his Philles label, became a producer-for-hire again, then "retired" he lost his fire. He couldn't adapt the way other great producers could, nor could he turn it on and off. So, Spector had his moment (and what a moment it was) and then it was gone.
saintsfan
Footballguy
Why did they breakup?
OK, so most of you have probably heard the theories. Here are my thoughts:
Business difference
IMO, it can't be stressed enough that while Brian was alive, they had nothing else to do but focus on music and being Beatles. The business stuff created conflict and for the first time, they had other things to focus on other than music. They took it out on each other. Simple as that. You always take it out on those closest to you and there probably have never been a band as close as the Beatles.
Yoko
Yoko is the most common scapegoat because it's much easier to just blame a single person, especially someone like Yoko who is kind of strange and very annoying. The truth is, John himself said he started thinking about life without the Beatles as early as 1966, before he even met Yoko. Yoko's presence in the studio certainly created conflict, but John had to know it would since nobody participated in the Beatles sessions. John Lennon himself decided to change the unwritten agreement that they had lived under since 1963. With or without Yoko, I believe they would have broken up. Once John decided it was over, it was over. Yoko was just a symptom to another real problem, namely...
Life intrudes
Since 1960, the Beatles practically lived with each other. The four individuals within the Beatles had forsaken their own ego to the idea of the 4 headed monster, namely, the Beatles. Lots of pressure involved with being a Beatle and they finally got sick of it. I don't know about you guys, but when I was in college, I had a group of like 4 guys and we did EVERYTHING together. What happened?? Well, people start to lead their own lives. They get their own jobs. They get their own wives. They get their own families. Those friends are still important to you, but they take a backseat. That's what happened to the Beatles, except in a far more public setting. They wanted to lead their own lives. So, couldn't they just have treated it like a job?? See, that's the thing. The Beatles was never a job. It was four extremely close friends who made magic together.
Artistic differences
This is another big one. George Harrison, in particular, had grown to the point where he couldn't be contained in the context of the Beatles as they had existed. There would have had to be major changes in order for it to continue. The fact is, that George had always been looked down upon, a bit, by John and Paul. Not on purpose. They loved him, but if you've ever had a friend who was younger than you, sometimes you have a hard time thinking of that person as a grownup. Especially in the case of George, who in the early days, really didn't have the song writing skill to match John and Paul. By the time he developed those skills, it was difficult for John and Paul to think of George as an equal, or at the very least, not as an inferior. In addition, Paul and John's artistic differences had always been there. In the early days, those differences are what made the Beatles great. In the later years, the business differences and personal differences made it to where they would attack each other's music. So, John would say Paul wrote granny music and Paul would say that John's music was too harsh and not focused enough. Ringo was kind of caught in the middle of this, three extremely strong musical personalities and trying to keep them all happy.
The truly sad thing is that I believe that, eventually, they would have reunited. There is enough evidence to suggest that, despite what John said in interviews, he DID enjoy a lot of Paul's solo work and wanted to work with Paul again. I believe that they would have gotten back together. John was in a much better place by 1980 and his songs from that period even SOUND like Beatles songs. Paul and George also, I believe, came to grips with the Beatles sometime in the 80's. The '95 reunion, I believe, would have happened if John had been alive and with John alive, Lord knows what we would have gotten.
OK, so most of you have probably heard the theories. Here are my thoughts:
Business difference
IMO, it can't be stressed enough that while Brian was alive, they had nothing else to do but focus on music and being Beatles. The business stuff created conflict and for the first time, they had other things to focus on other than music. They took it out on each other. Simple as that. You always take it out on those closest to you and there probably have never been a band as close as the Beatles.
Yoko
Yoko is the most common scapegoat because it's much easier to just blame a single person, especially someone like Yoko who is kind of strange and very annoying. The truth is, John himself said he started thinking about life without the Beatles as early as 1966, before he even met Yoko. Yoko's presence in the studio certainly created conflict, but John had to know it would since nobody participated in the Beatles sessions. John Lennon himself decided to change the unwritten agreement that they had lived under since 1963. With or without Yoko, I believe they would have broken up. Once John decided it was over, it was over. Yoko was just a symptom to another real problem, namely...
Life intrudes
Since 1960, the Beatles practically lived with each other. The four individuals within the Beatles had forsaken their own ego to the idea of the 4 headed monster, namely, the Beatles. Lots of pressure involved with being a Beatle and they finally got sick of it. I don't know about you guys, but when I was in college, I had a group of like 4 guys and we did EVERYTHING together. What happened?? Well, people start to lead their own lives. They get their own jobs. They get their own wives. They get their own families. Those friends are still important to you, but they take a backseat. That's what happened to the Beatles, except in a far more public setting. They wanted to lead their own lives. So, couldn't they just have treated it like a job?? See, that's the thing. The Beatles was never a job. It was four extremely close friends who made magic together.
Artistic differences
This is another big one. George Harrison, in particular, had grown to the point where he couldn't be contained in the context of the Beatles as they had existed. There would have had to be major changes in order for it to continue. The fact is, that George had always been looked down upon, a bit, by John and Paul. Not on purpose. They loved him, but if you've ever had a friend who was younger than you, sometimes you have a hard time thinking of that person as a grownup. Especially in the case of George, who in the early days, really didn't have the song writing skill to match John and Paul. By the time he developed those skills, it was difficult for John and Paul to think of George as an equal, or at the very least, not as an inferior. In addition, Paul and John's artistic differences had always been there. In the early days, those differences are what made the Beatles great. In the later years, the business differences and personal differences made it to where they would attack each other's music. So, John would say Paul wrote granny music and Paul would say that John's music was too harsh and not focused enough. Ringo was kind of caught in the middle of this, three extremely strong musical personalities and trying to keep them all happy.
The truly sad thing is that I believe that, eventually, they would have reunited. There is enough evidence to suggest that, despite what John said in interviews, he DID enjoy a lot of Paul's solo work and wanted to work with Paul again. I believe that they would have gotten back together. John was in a much better place by 1980 and his songs from that period even SOUND like Beatles songs. Paul and George also, I believe, came to grips with the Beatles sometime in the 80's. The '95 reunion, I believe, would have happened if John had been alive and with John alive, Lord knows what we would have gotten.
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NCCommish
Footballguy
I agree Yoko wasn't the cause she was just a symptom. As was George bringing people in for backup. The writing was on the wall it wasn't if but only when.I also agree with your last paragraph. I think everyone was getting to the point that they had kind of let the bad stuff go and were remembering the good times just a bit more. I think had John lived we would have had a reunion and perhaps an album. Don't know about a real tour but some dates somewhere big might have happened. A Wembley maybe or a stand at MSG.saintsfan said:
saintsfan
Footballguy
Paul is dead
We've gone over the Beatles career as a rock and roll band, so last, I'd like to post something about the strangest part of the Beatles career, namely, the Paul Is Dead rumor.
Basically, someone called a radio station in Michigan claiming that McCartney was dead. Just play Revolution 9 backwards and you would hear "Turn Me On Dead Man." Basically, the rumor was that Paul McCartney was decapitated in a car accident in 1966 and replaced by a look a like, some say William Campbell, who won a Paul McCartney look a like contest. Rather than tell the public, the Beatles decided to put clues in their albums. So various clues start to be reported. Here is a list from memory, although not exhaustive.
1. Hold up a straight mirror over the middle of the words Lonely Hearts on the drum of the Sgt Pepper album, and it says I ONE IX He ^ Die. Supposedly the date Nov (I One) 9(IX) He ^(pointing up to Paul on the album) Die.
2. The flowers in the garden on Pepper that are supposed to be in the shape of a guitar, supposedly look like Paul?
3. The lyrics to A Day In The Life refer to the car crash that Paul died in.
4. On the back of the Pepper cover, George points to a lyric that says Wednesday Morning at 9 O'Clock. Amazingly, Nov 9, 1966 was a Wednesday.
5. On the Pepper cover, there is an open hand over Paul's head. This is supposed to signify that he is dead in some other culture.
6. The Butcher Sleeve has decapitated baby dolls and that how Paul supposedly died.
7. On the back of the Pepper album, Paul's back is to the camera. Could this be because it wasn't really Paul.
8. The stars on the back of the Magical Mystery Tour album could be held up against a mirror and reveal a phone number to Paul in the afterlife. Supposedly when it is called, a voice says "You're getting closer."
9. Between I'm So Tired and Blackbird on the White Album there is some mumbling. If you play it backwards, it sounds like "Paul is dead man. Miss him miss him miss him."
10. On the video for Your Mother Should Know, Paul is wearing a black carnation. The others are wearing red.
11. The Abbey Road cover is actually a funeral procession. John dressed in white is the preacher. Ringo dressed in black is the mortician. George dressed in jeans in the grave digger. Paul, barefoot and smoking a cigarette left handed is the corpse. Paul is also out of step with the others, almost like he's different from the others.
12. The Volkswagon Beetle on the cover has a license plate that says 28IF or Paul would be 28 IF he had lived. Nevermind the fact that he'd be 27, not 28.
There are many more. These are just off the top of my head. Anyway, when you see all of the clues, it is quite unbelievable to think that all of them were just a coincidence. I'm not suggesting that Paul really is dead. I am suggesting that the legendary black humor of the Beatles might make it possible for the Beatles to want to play a little joke on their fans. Nothing really destructive, just a little fun.
There is a great book called The Walrus Was Paul by R. Gary Patterson that is devoted to this fascinating subject.
Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback. I've enjoyed doing this. I'm going to keep posting here for awhile and I will post thoughts about the remasters when I get them. I hope other post their thoughts on the remasters, the new video game, and anything Beatles that they want to share.
saintsfan
We've gone over the Beatles career as a rock and roll band, so last, I'd like to post something about the strangest part of the Beatles career, namely, the Paul Is Dead rumor.
Basically, someone called a radio station in Michigan claiming that McCartney was dead. Just play Revolution 9 backwards and you would hear "Turn Me On Dead Man." Basically, the rumor was that Paul McCartney was decapitated in a car accident in 1966 and replaced by a look a like, some say William Campbell, who won a Paul McCartney look a like contest. Rather than tell the public, the Beatles decided to put clues in their albums. So various clues start to be reported. Here is a list from memory, although not exhaustive.
1. Hold up a straight mirror over the middle of the words Lonely Hearts on the drum of the Sgt Pepper album, and it says I ONE IX He ^ Die. Supposedly the date Nov (I One) 9(IX) He ^(pointing up to Paul on the album) Die.
2. The flowers in the garden on Pepper that are supposed to be in the shape of a guitar, supposedly look like Paul?
3. The lyrics to A Day In The Life refer to the car crash that Paul died in.
4. On the back of the Pepper cover, George points to a lyric that says Wednesday Morning at 9 O'Clock. Amazingly, Nov 9, 1966 was a Wednesday.
5. On the Pepper cover, there is an open hand over Paul's head. This is supposed to signify that he is dead in some other culture.
6. The Butcher Sleeve has decapitated baby dolls and that how Paul supposedly died.
7. On the back of the Pepper album, Paul's back is to the camera. Could this be because it wasn't really Paul.
8. The stars on the back of the Magical Mystery Tour album could be held up against a mirror and reveal a phone number to Paul in the afterlife. Supposedly when it is called, a voice says "You're getting closer."
9. Between I'm So Tired and Blackbird on the White Album there is some mumbling. If you play it backwards, it sounds like "Paul is dead man. Miss him miss him miss him."
10. On the video for Your Mother Should Know, Paul is wearing a black carnation. The others are wearing red.
11. The Abbey Road cover is actually a funeral procession. John dressed in white is the preacher. Ringo dressed in black is the mortician. George dressed in jeans in the grave digger. Paul, barefoot and smoking a cigarette left handed is the corpse. Paul is also out of step with the others, almost like he's different from the others.
12. The Volkswagon Beetle on the cover has a license plate that says 28IF or Paul would be 28 IF he had lived. Nevermind the fact that he'd be 27, not 28.
There are many more. These are just off the top of my head. Anyway, when you see all of the clues, it is quite unbelievable to think that all of them were just a coincidence. I'm not suggesting that Paul really is dead. I am suggesting that the legendary black humor of the Beatles might make it possible for the Beatles to want to play a little joke on their fans. Nothing really destructive, just a little fun.
There is a great book called The Walrus Was Paul by R. Gary Patterson that is devoted to this fascinating subject.
Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback. I've enjoyed doing this. I'm going to keep posting here for awhile and I will post thoughts about the remasters when I get them. I hope other post their thoughts on the remasters, the new video game, and anything Beatles that they want to share.
saintsfan
Third
Footballguy
Tremendous thread. Thanks, saintsfan.I have always loved the Beatles, but my intake of their music had mainly been limited to the #1s album (sad, I know). I found a copy of the red album on CD last night that I bought in high school and reacquainted myself with some of the stuff off Rubber Soul. I cannot wait to dig deeper into the Beatles stuff I've missed all these years.
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Cheesy McGee
Footballguy
Other interesting points from the GuitarWorld article:
When George tracked his solo for "Something" he decided the next day that he didn't like what he had done and wanted to do another version. Problem was though that there was only one track left and it had to be used for the orchestral overdubs. George said he would just do it live and played it right along with the orchestra, nailing it.
When it came down to who would do the guitar solo on "The End", they couldn't decide if George or John would do it. After some discussion they decided to have all three of them do it and worked out the order, rehearsed a little, then did it all in one take, live. When it was time to record it, Yoko started to follow John into the studio and he said "No love, not this time". Just the boys making great music.
When George tracked his solo for "Something" he decided the next day that he didn't like what he had done and wanted to do another version. Problem was though that there was only one track left and it had to be used for the orchestral overdubs. George said he would just do it live and played it right along with the orchestra, nailing it.
When it came down to who would do the guitar solo on "The End", they couldn't decide if George or John would do it. After some discussion they decided to have all three of them do it and worked out the order, rehearsed a little, then did it all in one take, live. When it was time to record it, Yoko started to follow John into the studio and he said "No love, not this time". Just the boys making great music.
saintsfan
Footballguy
There is a great story about this, also, in Geoff Emerick's book Here, There, and Everywhere. In the early days, it took George a lot of time to work out his guitar solos. George wasn't a prodigy, he worked his butt off to become a lead guitar player. Geoff used this story as an example of how much George had grown throughout the 60's. Just nailed it on the first take.And the story about John further leads me to believe that, in some ways, John used Yoko to break up the Beatles. Oh, I don't mean he didn't love her or anything. What I mean is that John didn't have the guts to break up with the Beatles, so he kind of let Yoko get under the other Beatles skins on purpose hoping that it would break up the band. He, finally, worked up the courage, but I think at first, Yoko was a way to annoy the others.
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Big Blue Wrecking Crew
downsized
In most cases, I don't take this as positive sign. Should be a partnership at best, but there are the occasional outlier.saintsfan said:
Godsbrother
Footballguy
Godsbrother
Footballguy
Both very good posts. The business problems were very significant. Apple was a fiasco and Paul & John handled the situation with Northern Songs very badly. Had Brian not passed away they likely would have never lost control of their catalog. This was a huge blow to both John and Paul.Another aspect that I believe played a large part of their breakup was John's drug use which got out of hand. George Martin and Geoff Emerick have both said that John was often a big problem in the studio because he was so stoned and irritable.
Paul gets criticized for being overbearing but someone had to steer the group and John wasn't in any frame of mind to do it. Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, Get Back, Abbey Road were all initially McCartney ideas.
Godsbrother
Footballguy
True story except that Paul was visiting John in NYC.SaveFerrisB said:
saintsfan
Footballguy
Didn't George show up a few weeks later trying to claim the money or something...
Godsbrother
Footballguy
I dunno. He did appear on SNL with Paul Simon around that time.
Ghoti
Footballguy
Here's a link to the SNL thing:
http://www.beatleslane.com/video/lorne-mic...the-beatles.htm
As far as John and Paul watching it, VH1 even made a movie out of the possibility: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228979/
BTW, great thread.
http://www.beatleslane.com/video/lorne-mic...the-beatles.htm
As far as John and Paul watching it, VH1 even made a movie out of the possibility: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228979/
BTW, great thread.
saintsfan
Footballguy
I just looked it up. George showed up and they put him on air. It might have been the show with Paul Simon. Anyway, Lorne Michaels is telling George that if it was up to him, he would give him all the money, but NBC says no. George deadpanned "Pretty chincy."This is another great thing about the Beatles. Always willing to be in on the joke. That Morecambe and Wise TV show on the Anthology is just priceless. They have no problem kind of laughing at themselves. That's one of the reasons why they endeared themselves to the public.When George Martin and Brian Epstein talk about their personality, that's a crucial element, IMO.
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BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
During the first season of Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels offers the Beatles $3,000 to appear on the show (aired April 24, 1976). This clip appeared on TV Land.During Michaels' offer he jokingly says "This is made out to the Beatles - you divide it up any way you want. If you want to give less to Ringo, that's up to you."
NCCommish
Footballguy
Poor Ringo always getting dissed.
Great thread. This has been my daily must-read for the past week. Thanks, saintsfan!
saintsfan
Footballguy
Thanks MT. Coming from you, that's a great compliment.I'm going to try and keep this thing going through the remasters on 09-09-09, so stay tuned.
NCCommish
Footballguy
People go their whole career and don't get a great thread from MT. That's when you know you've made it. And of course he's right. Just great stuff including the posts from Godsbrother. Great work by him as well.
